Apr

17

And, speaking of civil war

April 17, 2006 |

In the emerging Gaza battle zone, the myriad other militant groups are choosing where they stand.

The death of Mr Quqa, whose group sympathises with Hamas, appears to have been the first shot in this war. His son is sure that Fatah - hoping to provoke a crisis and return to power - was behind the killing.

A few miles away, in northern Gaza, there is little -sympathy for Mr Quqa and the PRC from Fatah and its armed wing, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, in their Jabalya refugee camp stronghold.
the telegraph

this is hardly a surprise as there were intimations of civil war in Gaza even before Hamas was elected. The Israelis have long known that the death of the Troll of Ramallahtm would remove a degree of brutal political simplicity in the PA. Now, Hamas and the assorted gangs of rocket firing terrorists are in the process of taking on the old, corrupt, terrorists of Fatah. With luck this will be a short, rather intense, war and then some sort of adult control will emerge. But there is no reason to believe that the Palis, expecially with their government bankrupt, are going to be lucky. You make your own luck after all and the Pali record of missed oppotunity is staggering.

Were I the Israelis I would get on with building the wall and winding down any form of contact with the Palestinians unless and until a real government with a monopoly on force and an ability to negotiate in good faith emerges. That may take quite a while. A good big wall and a relentless policy of retaliation for every rocket attack is pretty much all the Israelis can do.


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