Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian' civil war update: Hamas gets more weapons

Monday, May 14, 2007

'Palestinian' civil war update: Hamas gets more weapons

The 'Palestinian' civil war is back on in the Gaza Strip with six 'Palestinians' having been killed in the last twenty-four hours. Eight 'Palestinians' have been killed and seventy have been wounded in the last two days. More significantly, 'moderate' 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas today accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh (pictured at top left). Some of you may recall that the interior ministry was one of the more difficult positions to fill in the 'Palestinian unity government' and it would not be surprising if Hamas now tries to reinstall Said Siam, who established Hamas' 'executive force' or someone else who is much more clearly a Hamas lackey than Kawasmeh.

Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh had offered his resignation two weeks ago to protest the deteriorating security situation in Gaza. But Haniyeh had tried to persuade Kawasmeh to stay on.

Kawasmeh, as interior minister, was in charge of PA security forces loyal to Hamas.

After a new wave of fighting left six people dead, Haniyeh on Monday accepted the resignation, said two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. Kawasmeh recently proposed a security plan aimed at bringing law and order to Gaza, but the plan was never implemented.

Meanwhile the Bush administration's efforts to prop up 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' ~~Mahmoud Abbas~~ Abu Mazen hit a snag on Sunday when Hamas yet again intercepted an arms shipment:

"We obtained the U.S. weapons and will keep hijacking any assistance the Americans provide to Fatah. Our fighters are aware of the American and Israeli conspiracies to topple our government. We're trained and well prepared to defeat the American-backed (Palestinian) agents," said a top member of Hamas' so-called military wing in the Gaza Strip.

...

Yesterday, after a Fatah gunman shot a Hamas member, a Fatah convoy of three trucks was stopped by Hamas at a makeshift checkpoint at Dabit Circle, a northern Gaza town, according to Hamas sources. Hamas abducted 18 Fatah gunmen and seized stockpiles of American weapons that were in the vans, the sources said.

In fact, Hamas has apparently taken complete control of the northern Gaza Strip:

According to Israeli and Palestinian security officials and Hamas sources, Hamas militias in recent months have taken almost complete control of the northern Gaza Strip, including areas from which rockets are launched regularly into nearby Jewish communities. The officials said Fatah, which is backed by the U.S., is restricted to acting within a half-mile radius of a major Fatah military compound. Hamas has set up roadblocks and checkpoints throughout northern Gaza to ensure Fatah militias remain near their compound.

Not that Fatah - which the US tried to help once again last week with its 'benchmarks' plan - is any better:

The document also includes increased assistance for 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' ~~Mahmoud Abbas~~ Abu Mazen's Force 17-dominated 'security services.' As you may recall, Force 17 is headed by a wanted murderer, and its leaders have repeatedly said that any weapons supplied to them would be used against Israel.

Of course, Israel is partly to blame for this, because it has transferred weapons to Force 17 itself, and because it continues to promote the delusion that Abu Mazen is a 'moderate' and is different from Hamas. Abu Mazen himself is a Holocaust denier, and the 'Palestinian Authority' under his command has continued to brainwash children to commit suicide, while denying the Jewish (and Christian) connection to the land of Israel.