Words and War

Fatah denounces the terrorist attack that killed nine and wounded 65 in Tel Aviv. Hamas calls it a legitimate act of resistance. Hamas is in charge of the Palestinian Authority, Fatah isn't. Hamas makes no bones about its intentions and desire to eliminate Israel from the face of the planet. Fatah is more circumspect, but has the same long term goal (just look at all those maps the PA produced of the region - they all show a Palestinian country where Israel once stood).

Both Fatah and Hamas have sufficient men under arms that they can quickly and easily get into a shooting war - with each other - let alone enter into a real shooting match with Israel's military. With little in the way of money coming into the PA and the costs of maintaining things not going away, the pressure is on. The pressure is resulting in 'security' forces breaking into PA offices demanding to be paid.

And the leaders of the various terrorist groups are all triangulating against each other and against Israel. They need to be seen as the most violent in order to curry favor with the gunmen who don't care who they work for. This means that the possibility of more terrorist attacks only increases.

Does any of this matter for Israel? The terrorist attacks continue regardless of who calls themselves in charge. Israel needs to finish the fence to reduce the likelyhood that terrorists could infiltrate into Israel to launch bombing attacks, but it doesn't eliminate the threat. That can only come through engaging the terrorist groups in military action, and the likelyhood of that is far from certain, despite the fact that the terrorists' intentions are well known.

Another possibility is that Israel's reprisals could result in the various factions uniting behind Hamas - and that would actually undermine Israel's security posture because they couldn't exploit the factions in a divide and conquer strategy.

UPDATE:
Israel isn't pulling punches - calling the actions of Iran, Syria and the PA a declaration of war:

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations called actions by Iran, Syria and Palestinian leaders "declarations of war," but the Palestinian envoy said Israel's attacks on Gaza were inhumane and violated international law.

The two diplomats on Monday opened a U.N. Security Council debate that included some 35 speakers. The session had been scheduled before Monday's Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, in which nine people were killed and 60 wounded.

Nevertheless, the Palestinian U.N. observer, Riyad Mansour, echoed the condemnation made by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. The Hamas-led Palestinian government has not made similar comments.

"We restate our condemnation of the loss of innocent lives, Palestinian and Israelis, and we call upon the occupying power to do the same," Mansour told the council.

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said every day fundamentalist leaders were inciting acts of terrorism.

"A dark cloud is looming above our region, and it is metastasizing as a result of the statements and actions by leaders of Iran, Syria, and the newly elected government of the Palestinian Authority," Gillerman said.

"These recent statements are clear declarations of war, and I urge each and every one of you to listen carefully and take them at face value."

Israel defends herself by going after the terrorists and the PA claims that these are violations of international law and whatever agreements they have signed. Never mind the fact that the Palestinians have never lived up to any of their obligations under those agreements.