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| Middle East |
| PA-Hamas edging toward civil war? |
| 2002-11-15 |
| Palestinian Authority security men Tuesday night fired at a unit of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, while returning from an operation launched against Zionist settlements. Palestinian sources said that members in a Qassam unit had fired three Qassam missiles in Beit Lahia to the north of the Gaza strip at Zionist settlements at around 11 pm Tuesday. On their way back a PA intelligence force chased them, along with members from the PA marine police and military intelligence. The PA security men fired at the resistance fighters at the pretext that they refused to stop. Another shootout between the PA men and Hamas. Could it be that Yasser's latest Minister of Interior is attempting to assert some control? Inhabitants in the area said that the Qassam elements hid in a cultivated area and were chased by PA security men. The Qassam members managed to seize one of the security men's cars and fled towards the Jabaliya refugee camp. An exchange of fire took place leading to the injury of three Qassam members in addition to two security men while fire broke out in one of the security men's cars completely destroying it, according to the eyewitnesses. Cheeze! It sounds like an episode of "The A Team." Was one of the Qassam guys a big black guy with a lot of jewelry and a funny haircut? Jabaliya mosques called for saving the Qassam members after which a number of Qassam units arrived to the scene and managed to end the problem. In other words, the local imam called for backup, and a Hamas mob showed up to chase the coppers away. The PA has the choice of being in control or not being in control. If they're going to be in control, they've got to whack the Islamists hard. But they've sat back and played games for so long that it's not going to happen without a lot of dead bodies in the street. If they don't do it, they keep on being irrelevant and the IDF can clean out the Islamists, but the PA doesn't get any reward when it's all over. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 There's a peculiar logic to these kinds of battles.Just look at the Democrats in USA.As long as they are united by a common enemy and the war against it is going somewhere, they can keep the disparate factions together.A major defeat will usually lead to recriminations and a power struggle between different factions.A hard blow by the IDF would probably push the Palestinian coalition off a cliff right now. |
| Posted by: El Id 2002-11-15 14:00:36 |
| #3 PA-HAMAS civil war? I'll make some popcorn and sit back and watch it. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-11-15 13:30:34 |
| #2 My view is that right now Gaza is Hamas territory. Araf*ck would like it, too, to be PA territory, so that he gets his rake off. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-11-15 13:07:07 |
| #1 I can only wish I was as optimistic. More likely it's just part of some clan fued. The Jordanian, Lebanese & Egyptian settlers like killin' - if they can't kill Jews they'll start killing each other. I think it's just part of their nature! |
| Posted by: Aracona 2002-11-15 12:11:18 |