Palestinian Civil War Watch (II) Be careful what you wish for

Continuing with the Palestinian Civil War Watch, we have now that the NYT has written that some Palestinians are considering that “the only thing that prevents the chaos and turmoil in Gaza from spreading to the West Bank is the presence of the Israeli occupation“.

I have found it there: you should read all the post at Lamplighter: Palestinians What Anyone But Palestinians To Govern

Recently, a few Palestinian columnists have broken a political taboo by referring to the Israeli occupation as perhaps preferable to the current chaos.For example, Majed Azzam wrote in the Hamas-affiliated weekly Al Risala in Gaza that Palestinians “should have the courage to acknowledge the truth,” that the only thing that “prevents the chaos and turmoil in Gaza from spreading to the West Bank is the presence of the Israeli occupation.”

Another Palestinian writer, Bassem al-Nabris, a poet from Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, wrote in the Arabic electronic newspaper Elaph that if there was a referendum in the Gaza Strip on the question of whether people would like the Israeli occupation to return, “half the population would vote ‘yes.’ But in practice,” he continued, “I believe that the number of those in favor is at least 70 percent, if not more.”

“If the occupation returns,” Mr. Nabris added, “at least there will be no civil war, and the occupier will have a moral and legal obligation to provide the occupied people with employment and food, which they now lack.”

Whatever the Palestinian FM says about the struggle “being a result of pressures imposed from outside forces“.UPDATE 1: Hamas: “the era of Islamic rule has arrived”: Hamas supporters have executed people in the streets as last Fatah stronghold falls. More at Gateway Pundit. Hmm, marvellous… 😦

Now we can wonder what these peaceful militants-resistants-insurgents would do with Israelis…

Hamas militants take a vehicle and weapons from the headquarters of the security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas after blowing them up in the southern Gaza strip June 13, 2007. Hamas Islamist fighters appeared in command of much of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after battering forces loyal to Western-backed Abbas. (REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

UPDATE 2: More photos from the Jerusalem Post:

Hamas gunmen take positions outside the preventive security headquarters housing Fatah loyalist security forces in Gaza City, Thursday, June 14, 2007.
Photo: AP

A Palestinian woman holds a sign during a demonstration calling for the end of internal fighting between Fatah and Hamas.
Photo: AP

Jaafer Ashtiyeh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Fatah gunmen covering their escape after they kidnapped seven employees from a Hamas-run TV station in Nablus, in the West Bank, on Wednesday.

UPDATE 3: Hamas Seizes Broad Control in Gaza Strip – New York Times

Mr. Abbas faces the collapse of Fatah power in Gaza and a putative Palestinian state divided into a West Bank run by Fatah and a Gaza run by Hamas. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel warned of “regional consequences” if Gaza fell under the complete control of Hamas, an Islamist movement that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas control of Gaza would limit Israel’s ability to negotiate with Mr. Abbas, as Washington wants.

Hamas spokesmen said the movement had no political goal except to defend itself from a group within Fatah collaborating with Israel and the United States. They said they wanted to bring the security forces under the control of the unity government, in which Fatah agreed to play a part until the current fighting.Some Israeli security officials say Israel wants to see the West Bank isolated from Gaza, even more so with Hamas in control there. One official suggested that Hamas’s show of strength in Gaza would make it more likely that the Israeli military would intervene there this summer to cut back Hamas’s military power. The Israeli security services say Hamas, which is able to smuggle weapons and explosives from Egypt, is developing a sophisticated army on the model of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said Israel did not see “the implosion of the Palestinian Authority in anyone’s interest.” In Gaza, he added, “the clear strength that Hamas is demonstrating on the ground is a problem for us, and a challenge.”

“It’s a problem for the Palestinians, too,” Mr. Regev said. “Our whole policy is to work with moderate pragmatic Palestinians who believe in peace, and Hamas hegemony in Gaza is not good for Israel, for the Palestinians or for peace.”

[Sorry, I have had to publish it again, because I had some problems with it…]

UPDATE 4: More about the Hamas’ new Islamist state: Gaza lurches towards Islamist mini-state-News-World-Middle East-TimesOnline

”This is a victory for Islam and I hope we will build our Islamic state,” said Abu Qatada, a masked 22-year-old Hamas fighter, standing outside the smouldering ruin of the Fatah security base. “We must now complete the job,” he said.
In a symbolic moment, a large crowd of Gaza civilians demonstrating for an end to the internecine fighting came under fire from unidentified attackers who killed at least two marchers.
Political leaders of Fatah were also being hunted, and several hundred members of a Fatah-affiliated clan gave themselves up to Hamas militiamen after a deadly ambush. Fifty Fatah policemen crossed the border with Egypt and gave up their weapons to Egyptian troops after their positions came under Hamas rocket attacks.
“The situation is very, very bad,” Maher Mekhdad, a high-ranking Fatah official in Gaza, told The Times by mobile phone after his well-defended house was overrun by Hamas gunmen. “Hamas is going for total control of all the Gaza Strip. They want to push us into oblivion.”

Last forces of Al Fatah flee from Faza by sea.

The number of Al Fatah’s member who have flown from Gaza is about 300, because the main part of the security services personnel have already flown from Gaza and they are apparently going on fishing boats to the North, to take refuge in Israel, or to the South, to Egypt.
At the same time, Al Fatah’s sources this Thursday afternoon, that Islamist terrorists have murdered the “number one wanted” of this movement, Samih Al Madún,
32-years-old, in the Gaza’s Rimal quarter.

This is getting more worrying each time.

UPDATE 5:  Hamas plans to execute Fatah leaders.
Abbas sacks Hamas-led government:

Aides to Mr Abbas said he dismissed the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and was preparing to appoint an independent as prime minister.

A little late…

UPDATE 6:

Iran and Syria are the real winners of the Hamas-Fatah war.

Hamas: we can prove Fatah links to CIA. Well, let’s see the documents.

Technorati Tags: Palestinian Civil War, Al-Fatah, Hamas, israel

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