Hamas Announces Strategy

Since they're not happy with controlling Gaza and running the local economy into the ground, the terrorists of Hamas are looking to repeat their success by doing the same to the West Bank by taking on Fatah in Fatah's backyard.

A senior Gaza Hamas official warned Tuesday that his Islamic terrorist group could overrun the West Bank, just as it took over Gaza, if provoked by its rivals in Fatah.

Abu Zuhri, told The Associated Press that Fatah should expect "an uprising" against them if they continued a crackdown against Hamas there.

I suspect that if the Hamas thugs do attack, Fatah would likely crumble pretty quickly unless the Israeli intervene on their behalf and bolster the Fatah thugs. However, Hamas has repeatedly played up the fact that Fatah has been coopted by Israel and doesn't have the Palestinians' interests in mind.

I do not believe that Fatah could defeat Hamas in a straight up fight, even on their home turf. Fatah turning to Israel for help actually plays into Hamas' hands. Israel, however, cannot let Hamas gain a foothold in the West Bank, which is why it continues to conduct operations there.