The Ceasefire that Never Was

Abbas wants new elections. Hamas refuses. No unity government, and the so-called ceasefire is anything but. Hamas and Fatah thugs continue taking pot shots at each other, and Palestinians are caught in the crossfire. The kidnappings continue - as the intimidation campaign intensifies.

Tony Blair thinks that Abbas should be praised for calling new elections. That's a mistake. There's no reason for praise here. We're dealing with terrorists and thugs who have no concept of the term power-sharing or governance. They don't want to create a Palestinian state so much as destroy the Israeli state and are fighting over the timeframe.

A river of blood may flow. That's a river of Palestinian blood - caused and brought about by Palestinian terrorists slugging it out for supremacy. But they're going through the charade of having a ceasefire overseen by yet other terrorist groups. What can go wrong with a situation like this?

After two days of fierce clashes, Fatah and Hamas representatives announced that they had reached a cease-fire agreement under the auspices of a number of Palestinian groups, including Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The agreement, they said, calls for withdrawing all gunmen from the streets, ending the war of words between the two parties and the return of Palestinian Authority security forces and Hamas militiamen to their previous positions.

In addition, the agreement calls for ending street protests and the release all those who were kidnapped in the past few days, as well as the formation of a commission of inquiry that would investigate the events of the past few days.

Oh yes, more fighting reporting near Abbas' compound.

Just remember, you cannot call this a civil war until Matt Lauer does.

UPDATE:
Sauce for the goose.

Unknown assailants kidnapped a top Fatah official in the Gaza Strip late Monday, officials said, threatening to derail a day-old truce between Fatah and the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Sufian Abu Zaydeh, 48, a former Cabinet minister, was captured in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Fatah spokesman Abdul Rahim Awad. Abu Zaydeh was driving alone to his home when he was stopped by gunmen in another car, abducted, and taken in the direction of the town of Beit Lahiya, Awad said.

There were no claims of responsibility, but Fatah officials said they believed Hamas was behind the kidnapping. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they feared for their safety. Hamas officials declined comment.

You can bet that everyone knows who the assailants were. It was Hamas.

Hamas kidnapping Fatah officials. Fatah putting hits out on Hamas officials. Hamas firing back. And yet the world media thinks that Israel is the impediment to peace (witness the obligatory add-on "factoids" to pieces on the situation in the territories that all seem to link the violence to Israel and the West's refusal to open economic aid to the terrorists)?

Oh, and how exactly is this a truce or ceasefire if the fighting has not stopped. How exactly is the ceasefire working if the fighting is actually more intense now and leaders of both terrorist groups are going into hiding to protect themselves from the thugs' Palestinian enemies. Israel watches nervously as the situation in Gaza gets worse and other terrorist groups may take advantage.

UPDATE:
Terrorists releasing terrorists to prevent wider bloodshed. Both sides moved back from the precipice for at least a little while.

They said eight Fatah activists and four Hamas members, including senior official Emad Deeb, had been released and handed over to third party mediators.

Hamas gunmen abducted Sufian Abu Zaida, a senior official from Abbas's Fatah faction and a former cabinet minister, in Gaza City but freed him an hour later. The abduction followed a clash between both sides in which one Fatah activist was killed.

Meanwhile, the US can't be serious about trying to back one faction in the burgeoning civil war between Hamas and Fatah. This is a conflict where there is no good choice. Indeed, there is only one choice. Do nothing and let Hamas and Fatah slug it out. Yoni the Blogger worries about the path the US is taking, because it will be Israelis who will suffer the casualties for the US providing aid to Fatah. Hamas will attack more Israelis to 'prove' that they're not US puppets. The Real Truth also comments.

Others generally commenting on the current Palestinian conflict: Charles at LGF, Mensa Barbie, Hot Air, Bill's Bites, Pros and Cons, The Last Amazon, and Vital Perspective.

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