Photographer Freed, Violence Remains in Gaza

A Peruvian photographer working for AFP held since New Year's Day has been released after more than a week being held by Palestinian terrorists.

The photographer, Jaime Razuri, 50, worked for the French news agency AFP. He was abducted at gunpoint from a part of central Gaza City where many foreign journalists have offices. There was no immediate word on who the kidnappers were.

Razuri was taken to the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel Rahim. Abbas was in the West Bank at the time. Fatah officials said Fatah and Popular Resistance Committees, a small militant Gaza group, mediated in his release.

The kidnapping was the latest in a series of abductions of foreigners by shadowy groups in Gaza, targeting journalists and aid workers. Unlike Razuri, most of the victims were leased unharmed after a few hours.

The kidnapping of the photographer drew denunciations from Palestinian officials, foreign correspondents and local Palestinian journalists.

In other developments, geography is playing a big role in the violent Palestinian power struggle: when Hamas attacks in its Gaza stronghold, its rival Fatah retaliates in the West Bank, where it holds sway.

There's no word on whether ransom was paid for his release.

Meanwhile Fatah holds a huge rally in the belly of the beast. Gaza is Hamas territory and Fatah holding a big rally there isn't going to sit well with the Hamas thugs. This comes as Fatah's Abbas outlaws Hamas' security force and Hamas calls the bluff by claiming that it will double the number of forces associated with that group.

Of course, there's the additional fine irony of Fatah members chanting that Hamas are murderers. Israelis and anyone with a solid understanding of good and evil would note that they've been saying this for years (and the same thing about Fatah too).

UPDATE:
The IDF notes that the Palestinian security forces are rife with terrorist elements. Is this a surprise to anyone? The Palestinian Authority is essentially one big terrorist racket, comprised of both Hamas and Fatah - and both have their own terrorist militias at the ready.

If anything, this should be yet another caution against anyone providing any kind of aid whatsoever to the Palestinians until they purge themselves of the terrorist elements.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, haniyeh, Olmert, carter, Abbas, abdullah, jordan, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel.