Israel Matzav

Video: Hamas getting cold feet on breeching Egypt border?

This morning, I blogged an al-Ahram article from Egypt that reported that Hamas is going to breech the Egyptian border again soon. Notably, the article said that Hamas has issued a fatwa permitting its terrorists to shoot to kill Egyptian soldiers. Now it seems that Hamas may be getting cold feet. There are two videos below. In the first video, Infolive TV recounts the al-Ahram article and finds other evidence - notably entries on Hamas' web sites - that indicate that a border breech might be imminent. But the video notes that even 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen is opposed to a border breech, possibly for the (unsaid) reason that it would involve shooting at Egyptian troops. And Hamas denies to Infolive that it intends to try to breech the border again. Let's go to the (first) videotape.



In the second video, you will see Hamas members of the 'Palestinian' legislative council in action trying to enlist French assistance in breaking the 'blockade.' The members presented a letter to representatives of the local French Cultural Center to be conveyed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy requesting his intervention in order to bring an end to the Israeli imposed 'blockade' in Gaza, claiming that the Strip's 1.5 million people are starving to death. While Israel has renewed limited fuel supplies to Gaza (which were suspended briefly in the aftermath of the Nahal Oz terror attack), Israeli officials have rejected the Palestinian claims noting that daily truckloads of food, medicine and vital staples enter the Gaza Strip. Let's go to the videotape.



Is Hamas trying to put on a show of making 'one last effort' to resolve the 'crisis' without breaking down the border with Egypt again? Or is it getting cold feet because it realizes that should its men shoot at the Egyptian troops, the Egyptians - unlike the Israelis - will actually shoot back and not worry about 'civilian' casualties? I suspect the former, but it could well be the latter. If Hamas were to get several hundred Gazans 'martyred' by Egyptian (rather than Israeli) troops, the Gazans might get angry enough to throw off Hamas' rule.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:11 PM