News and Notes on Middle East Events

This link provides a comprehensive listing of updated news happening in the Middle East from the various news outlets in the region and wire services. It should be a must-read for anyone following events in the Middle East.

UPDATE:
So, is Fatah really getting torn apart by mutual recriminations?

A top Fatah leader and adviser to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was fired from his job on Thursday for criticizing senior Fatah officials who were responsible for the defeat of their faction in the Gaza Strip.

The dismissal of Hani al-Hassan, a veteran Fatah official and a former PA interior minister, is yet another sign of the growing tensions inside Fatah in the wake of Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip.

"Fatah is facing a very dangerous crisis," said a senior Fatah official here. "Many Fatah leaders and activists are unhappy with the way Abbas and the Fatah leadership have been handling the current crisis. If we don't get our act together, we will lose the West Bank to Hamas."

Don't buy into that line for one moment. Fatah has always been factionalized; it was how Yasir Arafat was able to maintain power. He would give competing thugs a group to call their own, and would then play each against the other, currying favor all along.

When Arafat died, Abbas tried to do the same, but has been far less successful. The failure of Fatah to hold off the smaller Hamas forces in Gaza showcased the failures of the leading thugs for all to see. Abbas has been under pressure since Fatah lost the elections against Hamas, but has never actually been held accountable for his actions. Indeed, none of the terrorists - Hamas or Fatah - have been held accountable by the Palestinians. The blame for their failures gets pawned off on to Israel instead.

If the dangerous crisis is that Fatah ceases to exist, that would not a be a bad thing to anyone other than the thugs themselves, and the diplomats who have invested so much time and effort into backing this band of terrorists over another group of terrorists just as reprehensible.

The diplomats, practicing their best pseudorealism, believe that Abbas is Israel's only negotiating partner. Last time I checked, Abbas has not offered any concessions whatsoever, and its steps in cracking down on terrorism in its midst have been half hearted and only followed Israel's announcement that they would release 250 Fatah from Israeli jails.

Israel is finding that Hamas is trying to create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza by repeatedly attacking the crossing points into Israel. This should surprise no one. Israel continues to send aid to Gaza, despite the ongoing threats posed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad firing rockets into Israel.

We've heard this before: Fatah's Prime Minister claims to warn religious leaders not to incite violence against Israel. What this really means is that they should be more careful so as to avoid being taped broadcasting calls to violence and hatred against Israel and the West. The fact that Hamas has a toehold in West Bank mosques means that this will have little effect overall on what is said and the calls to violence will continue.

The more concrete step of eliminating references in the Palestinian Charter to destroy Israel will not be taken, despite it being one of the conditions since Oslo. If the Palestinians will not take that very basic step, why accept that they'll do anything more difficult?

Fatah thugs are also getting into fights with Israeli forces in Nablus. Israel is going after wanted terrorists, and that's got Fatah all riled up.

The operation in Nablus indicated that Israel would continue to pursue Fatah militants in the occupied West Bank despite Israeli pledges to bolster the faction's leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, after Hamas seized Gaza two weeks ago.

Five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the raid, which began late on Wednesday, the army said.

Israeli forces in about 50 armoured vehicles entered Nablus and imposed a curfew on the centre of the city, then carried out house-to-house searches for wanted militants, local residents said.

Medical workers said seven Palestinians were hit by Israeli rubber-coated bullets. The Nablus municipality said the force detained eight Palestinians, at least one of them a Fatah gunman. The army said it arrested two wanted Fatah operatives.

"I strongly condemn the new Israeli raid in Nablus ... one day after the aggression in Gaza," said Fayyad, head of the emergency government that Abbas appointed last week.

In operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, but also a 12-year-old boy and several civilians, local medical officials said.

Israel has to pursue its national security agenda, and must deal with the terrorists that continue to engage in violence against Israel. The failure to deal with the ongoing threats only emboldens the terrorists.

Russia says that it will maintain contacts with Hamas. Of course they will. They see this as another opportunity to bog the West down, and they're hoping the jihadis come to them last.

So, Iran says that it is not backing Hamas. Right. There is absolutely no reason to believe them whatsoever given that they share a common desire to destroy Israel. To that end, most Palestinians hope Iran gets the bomb.

Sderot residents think that Olmert is too busy trying to remain in power to do anything serious to stop the rockets raining down on the city. That comes on the heels of Olmert saying that there was little that could be done to provide total security for southern towns.

That's cold comfort for those living in Northern Israel or elsewhere in the country who may once again come under fire from terrorists in Lebanon (see Hizbullah, rd. 2). And Israel may stop hunting down terror suspects who mend their ways. How exactly are they mending their ways?

Meanwhile, the Israeli domestic political scene got a jolt today as the investigation into the Israeli President Katsav took an interesting turn. He accepted a plea bargain - admitting to lesser included charges but will do no time in prison, from an investigation stemming from claims by multiple women that Katsav raped and/or sexually assaulted them. The decision to do no time is outrageous and is a gross miscarriage of justice. An interim president has been holding the position and Shimon Peres will take over on July 15.

UPDATE:
For those who think that Fatah is the moderate group worthy of US or Israeli support, maybe this should make you change your mind (though I doubt that anything short of a nuclear strike carried out by Fatah thugs against the US will disabuse those of the ongoing pseudorealist stance that Fatah is the last best hope for peace with the Palestinians:

A number of IDF troops were wounded during an operation in Nablus Thursday which exposed a large explosives laboratory.

Three prepared explosive devices, each weighing roughly five kilograms, were found in the laboratory, along with numerous weapons, magazines and materials used to manufacture bombs.

Israeli army forces entered Nablus Wednesday to operate against terrorist infrastructure and locate illegal weapons caches. The large-scale operation was launched after intelligence information indicated that terrorists in the city were planning a number of attacks in Israeli territory.

Wednesday afternoon soldiers discovered another weapons cache containing a pipe bomb, a Kalashnikov rifle, a hand gun and two grenades. At another location in Nablus troops found an M-16 rifle and a telescopic sight. The weapons were confiscated and the grenades were detonated in controlled explosions.

Thus far eight Fatah-affiliated suspects have been arrested in the frame of the operation.