Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday declared Hamas' paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip illegal, raising the stakes in his standoff with the Islamic movement.Considering that all the security forces we're talking about are really terrorist militias that owe their allegiance not to the Palestinian Authority but to the terrorist groups Fatah or Hamas, the security situation is what one would expect it to be when you have thugs running things in Gaza: near anarchy.
Abbas made the announcement two days after members of the Hamas force attacked the home of a senior security commander in Gaza, killing the man and seven of his bodyguards. The man was a member of the Preventive Security force, which is loyal to Abbas' Fatah party.
"In light of continued security chaos and assassinations that got to a number of our fighters ... and in light of the failure of existing agencies and security apparatuses in imposing law and order and protecting the security of the citizens, President Mahmoud Abbas decided to reshuffle the security forces and its leadership and to consider the (Hamas) executive force, officers and members, illegal and outside the law," Abbas' office said in a statement.
Khaled Abu Hilal, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, quickly responded to Abbas' statement, calling it a hasty decision which was "a green light to those who seek to shed the blood of the Executive Force members." Abu Hilal also announced plans to double the force to a size of 12,000 members.
And Meryl Yourish notes that the Israeli press is calling the situation in Gaza what it is: Civil War. While it is in Israel's interest to make such declarations, it is also an objective reading of the situation. Both Fatah and Hamas are fighting to the death to take the reins of power. Neither is going to yield, which is why all the talk of truces are bunk. It's all about gaining time to resupply, regroup, and reload. Hamas and Fatah are looking to hudnas to gain an advantage. Yet, neither side can hold to one for very long because the other keeps going after the opposition's leaders.
At the same time, Egypt has seen fit to look the other way as Hamas is able to smuggle in $20 million via Egypt.
Carl in Jerusalem looks at Sharon's legacy in the time that has past since he was incapacitated by a stroke. He notes that Sharon's policy of disengagement has taken a serious hit since then because of the ongoing violence in Gaza and the emboldened Hizbullah that launched the August war. I disagree with Carl's conclusions in that many of the problems with disengagement can be directly traced to the conduct of Olmert and his advisors in waffling on how to deal with the situation in Gaza and Lebanon.
UPDATE:
More gun battles erupt between Hamas and Fatah. Three dead. The battles include Gaza and Jenin on the West Bank. As much as Abbas and Haniyeh think that they can stop the fighting on their say so, they don't have as much power to control events as they think.
Kidnappings continue and two Hamas officials have also been kidnapped.
Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, haniyeh, Olmert, carter, Abbas, abdullah, jordan, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel.
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