Sure, you’re reading this post time-stamped tomorrow morning. That’s how I do things these days. New job, new rules, dontchaknow.
So the Hamas/Fatah war continues, and those of us who are pretty much jaded to the idea of an all-out civil war (never gonna happen as long as Israel exists, what with one side or the other always being able to go, “Hey, look—Jews!” and distract the enemy) are simply hoping that the leadership might lose a few terrorists, which is always a plus.
2 Killed, 14 Injured in Gaza Gunbattles
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Gunbattles erupted Monday night between Fatah gunmen and Hamas militiamen in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing two people and wounding 14 a day after a deadly explosion of internal violence paralyzed the Gaza Strip.
Check out the whitewashing of the violence, complete with editorializing in the second paragraph:
The fighting was the latest in a series of sporadic battles over the past two days as tensions remained high between the two groups. Fatah militants enforced a general strike in many West Bank towns in a show of strength against Hamas, while the Hamas-led government ordered all ministries closed to protest Fatah attacks on government buildings.
But there was less violence Monday compared to the chaos and running street battles that killed eight people and wounded 100 others across Gaza a day earlier.
In an effort to reduce friction, Hamas pulled its militiamen out of Gaza’s major streets Monday and sent them back to their posts.
You just have to love the AP’s chutzpah. Because only two people were killed, the third paragraph in the story (which often makes it into the International section of most major newspapers) talks about how much less violence there was compared to the previous day’s death toll of eight.
Now the Jerusalem Post? They know how to work a story:
Fatah’s al-Aksa Martyr’s Brigades threatened Monday night to kill all of Hamas’s leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as well as Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Mashaal.
In a message sent to news agencies, the group said that it considers Mashaal, Interior Minister Sayid Siam and another high-ranking member of the ministry, Yosef al-Zahar, responsible for the deaths of Palestinians killed over the last two days during Hamas-Fatah clashes.
Not that I think it will happen, but oh, the rejoicing there’d be. Tuna for Terrorists—Tig and Gracie would get fatter than ever.
I think that those of us waiting (and rooting) for an all-out palestinian civil war need to realize that this is it.
The pallys are not well armed; kassams and RPGs are about the highest tech they’ve got. So for now, we’re only likely to see small scale fights like those over the past weekend.
This will change, however, as they open routes across the Rafah border area.
>> the leadership might lose a few terrorists, which is always a plus.
I think the problem here might be the same as with a war between origanized crime families : At the end, you are left with the most ruthless in charge.
Hamas wants to kill the PA people and the PA people want to kill Hamas.
Golly, I never thought I’d be in favor of Hamas and the PA both achieving their goals, but I’m rooting for them both and I hope they both succeed fully.