Israel Matzav

'Palestinian' Civil War Update - 11 more killed

Eleven more 'Palestinians' have been killed today in the Gaza Strip in 'clashes' that erupted when a group of Hamas terrorists attacked a group of Fatah terrorists near the Karni crossing point, killing eight of the Fatah terrorists. Israel was briefly involved when the 'Palestinians' shot at Israeli troops guarding the border between Gaza and Israel.

Tuesday's fighting erupted when Hamas gunmen approached a training base used by Fatah forces that guard the Karni cargo crossing, officials said. The base was set up in part by an American security team sent to train Palestinians on how to check cargo and baggage.

The Hamas force attacked the base with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, said Ahmed al-Kaisi, spokesman for the pro-Fatah Presidential Guard, which guards the crossing under an agreement with Israel. "We consider this a serious provocation and a crime committed in cold blood," al-Kaisi said.

When forces from another Fatah security unit raced to the scene to provide backup, they were ambushed by Hamas gunmen, witnesses said.

A jeep full of security men that came under fire veered off the road and crashed. Hamas forces then surrounded the vehicle and riddled it with gunfire, said one witness, who works in a nearby factory. "It was unbelievable. May God help us," said the man, who gave only his first name, Jamil, out of fear for his safety.

Hospital and security officials said eight men were killed in the ambush. After the incident, several bodies were seen strewn in the grass near the overturned jeep, as gunmen in pickup trucks nearby held machine guns in the air.

But as you might imagine, Hamas claims they didn't just attack Fatah for no reason. YNet reports the Hamas version:

Hamas officials said the attack and executions came as response to the killing of Aibrahim Maniah, one of Hamas military commanders.

Armed Hamas forces later surrounded a Palestinian police center in northern Jabalia. Other Hamas armed forces had barricaded themselves inside Gaza's Islamic university, in an attempt to prevent Fatah from entering the campus.

Should the university be attacked, Hamas officials warned that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' house "would not be safe." Fatah officials accused Hamas of trying to stage a military coup. [I assume Abbas Abu Mazen is in Ramallah anyway. CiJ]

The JPost reports that one Fatah terrorist was killed by Israel troops when he and another Fatah terrorist approached the border fence. YNet reports that Hamas and Fatah are trying to blame Israel for the worst of the results:

Hamas accused IDF soldiers of assisting the Presidential Guard officers.

The officials said the Israeli army allowed a number of Fatah affiliated security officers to enter its territory to escape from a Hamas attacks. A Palestinian security official [Hamas or Fatah? CiJ] denied the report.

Fatah officials blamed both Hamas and the IDF for the incident, claiming that Hamas was planning a military coup in the Palestinian Authority.

...

Hamas members claimed that all the Palestinians killed in the incident were hit by an IDF shell. Army officials denied the accusation. Hamas said it would respond to the incident by firing Qassam rockets at Israel. [But of course. CiJ]

...

As for the Palestinian killed by IDF fire, the army reported that soldiers had spotted two suspicious Palestinians near the border fence, south of the Karni crossing. The force shot at them and hit them.

IDF sources confirmed that the two were apparently Palestinian police officers who fled the attacked post, but said that when the incident happened the troops suspected they were gunmen approaching the border fence.

YNet reports that Gaza may soon be plunged into darkness - and not just because it gets dark around here in an hour and a half:

Head of the Palestinian Energy Authority Abdel Karim Abdeen warned Tuesday that power supply to Gaza might shut down, since Gaza is running out of fuel for its power plant.

"If the situation remains the same and we are not able to supply the plant with fuel, we are going to shut down by 9 AM (Wednesday), and Gaza is going to live in darkness," he told foreign news agencies.

Meanwhile, the world's talking heads are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to reconcile the two 'warring factions':

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spoke with President Abbas Tuesday afternoon, and told him the clashes had "crossed the line" and that both parties must cease violence immediately.

Yasser Abd Rabbo, a former minister of the Palestinian Authority, echoed such sentiments while at a convention in Petra, Jordan. He suggested "a security treaty, assuring all the militias be disarmed." [Don't hold your breath on that one. The genie has been let out of the bottle. CiJ].

Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, has called both Fatah and Hamas to cease the violence and resort unity. "I am very concerned about what is happening in the Palestinian Authority," he said.

"Restoring security is vital for the continuance of the peace process with Israel." [I wonder which 'peace' piece by piece process Javie has in mind. CiJ]

YNet also reports that the incident shows how little control 'moderate' 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh has over his 'militias.' Sorry folks, but the problem is much deeper than that. The problem is that the 'Palestinians' are divided among themselves and that no one among them is willing or able to take charge. The genie of terrorism has long since been let out of the bottle, and nothing less than a bloodbath - if that - will put it back in. The result is chaos. At this point, I don't think Arafat himself could put a stop to this, although I'm also not sure Hamas would be doing this if Arafat were still around. But I don't believe that Fatah ever accepted the outcome of the Mecca summit and the fact that the Saudis twisted Abu Mazen's arm enough to make him sign it doesn't mean that Fatah accepted it. The only way one side can force that kind of arrangement on the other is a complete military defeat. That hasn't happened. Yet.

But give them a state reichlet and let them train all their guns on Israel. That will solve all the problems.

Not.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:00 PM