Israel Matzav

'Palestinian' Civil War Watch - Fatah fires on Hamas; Hamas fires on Fatah

The civil war in Gaza heated up today. 'Palestinians' affiliated with Fatah fired upon the Hamas-controlled 'Interior Ministry' in the Gaza Strip today. Simultaneously, hundreds of Palestinian 'security officials' protested some of Gaza City's main intersections. During the protests, the 'officials' fired shots in the air and called for vengeance.

This is the difference between the 'Palestinians (and the Arab world in general) and every place else. When a black man was murdered by police officers in New York ten days ago, I don't recall hearing of mass demonstrations of blacks calling for shooting police officers or whites. But the 'Palestinians' are a different society.

During the funeral Gaza's former Mufti Abd El Karim Kahlut ruled a death sentence on the murderers. Nonetheless, Haniyeh rejected Fatah's demand that his government be dismissed following the anarchy in the Authority.

Hamas published an announcement saying that those responsible for the murder have an interest in igniting and provoking the internal Palestinian scene.

"We caution against exploiting this incident for a political battle in the Authority," Hamas threatened.

Hamas Member Ismail El Ashkar went so far as to state that those who truly benefited from the murder are the Fatah activists that initiated the revolt against the elected Palestinian government.

On the other hand, members of the Fatah movement are furious. Fatah security officers said that "there cannot be a situation in which children are murdered and no one is held accountable."

An official announcement by the Intelligence unit in which the children's father served, called for the dismissal of the ruling government.

A less official, but more violent response came from al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, who swore to get revenge and execute those involved in the murders.

Hamas 'security forces' opened fire this morning on stone-throwing Fatah demonstrators, wounding four of them. That incident took place in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. In the meantime, the two sides exchanges accusations and recriminations over yesterday's triple murder:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas ordered security forces to deploy across Gaza on Tuesday after the killing of the young sons of one of his loyalists shocked Palestinians.

A senior official from Abbas's Fatah faction, Hussein al-Sheikh, said Tueasday that the Hamas government bore responsibility for the drive-by shooting.

"Of course people very close to Hamas to say the least are behind the killings. We hold the government and the interior minister directly responsible," Sheikh said. "These are mafias, killer gangs," he added, referring to the perpetrators of the drive-by shooting.

Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri angrily denied the militant movement had anything to do with the attack.

"It seems some Fatah leaders are exploiting the blood of innocent children to earn political gains. We hold those leaders fully responsible for the grave consequences that may result from the fabrication and lies they are making."

But give them a state reichlet and all of the world's problems will be solved....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:22 PM