Palestinians Continue Violence Into New Year

The Palestinian terrorist groups have picked up where they left off and have continued with the killing, kidnapping, and violence in Gaza. So much for Eid and the supposed break from violence it confers. And one of the latest to be kidnapped was an AFP photographer who was on his way out of Gaza:

The clashes in the Jebaliya refugee camp near Gaza City broke a weeklong pause in the violent confrontation between the Islamic Hamas, which controls the government, and moderate President Mahmoud Abbas'
Fatah. In the past few weeks, 17 people have been killed in the internal fighting, leading to fears of civil war.

At least two people were wounded in the gunfire on Monday, security officials said, and reports of the numbers of Fatah and Hamas activists kidnapped ranged from three to 11. In the past, the kidnapped militants have usually been released unharmed.

Fatah-Hamas talks on a national unity government broke down several weeks ago. Frustrated by lack of progress, Abbas threatened to call an early election, but Hamas rejected that as an attempted coup and said it would boycott.

The renewed violence came despite a four-day Muslim holiday, "Feast of the Sacrifice," when Palestinians usually concentrate on family visits instead of internal politics.

Before sundown Monday, gunmen abducted a photographer from the French news agency, AFP, from Gaza City. AFP identified the photographer as Jaime Razuri, 50, from Peru. An AFP reporter said the photographer was returning from an assignment in Gaza and was abducted at gunpoint as he got out of his car with his driver.

Palestinian security officials said the kidnapping happened in Gaza City's central area, where many foreign news agencies have offices. They said the victim was standing at an intersection when about five masked men approached him, pushed him in a car and sped away.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details. There was no public claim of responsibility for the kidnapping.

Abbas condemned the kidnapping, according to a statement on the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The AFP reporter said the photographer spent most of his career covering Latin America.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (another terrorist group) is supposedly mediating the releases of the various terrorists taken by the other terrorist groups. If it sounds confusing, you're right - Hamas, Fatah, and PIJ are all terrorist organizations and are fighting for the right to fight Israel.

Meanwhile, what is it about diplomats that make them oblivious to reality? The solution of Israel-Palestinian situation is not the panacea to the region. Eliminating the regimes that sponsor the ongoing terrorism against Israel would. The UN's new Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is taking a page out of the ISG. So much for thinking that Ki-Moon will be any different than Annan when it comes to dealing with the realities of the Middle East.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, haniyeh, Olmert, carter, Abbas, abdullah, jordan, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.