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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas: We didn't plan to win Gaza
2007-06-24
Hamas was surprised by the easy and swift defeat of Fatah in the fighting that took place in the Gaza Strip, Hamas representative Ayman Taha said over the weekend.

Taha, who is one of the Hamas officials in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, said most Fatah militiamen and security officers decided not to fight when they learned that their leaders had fled to the West Bank and Egypt. "We did not have any intention to win or lose the battle," he explained. "We were only going against a small group that was behind all the trouble and tensions in the Gaza Strip."

Hamas, he added, did not think of a military victory when it waged its campaign. "What happened came also as a surprise to Hamas," he said. "We in Hamas were surprised not only by the major victory, but by the stunning defeat of Fatah. The Palestinian Authority was also surprised and is still in a state of shock. In fact, the entire world was surprised by the collapse of Fatah."
Posted by:Fred

#12  Fatah looked into the future and decided a token resistance was a good strategy.
Posted by: KBK   2007-06-24 20:46  

#11  I guess not all cultures are familiar with the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for."
Posted by: Mike N.    2007-06-24 16:00  

#10  You won it. Now you can eat it.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-06-24 14:52  

#9  Hamas: We didn't plan to win Gaza

There - fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-06-24 10:29  

#8  It was allan's will. Same excuse Fatah uses.
Posted by: Phinater Thravinger    2007-06-24 10:22  

#7  I read this a little differently. Look at what he says about Fatah

Taha said there were two reasons for Fatah's defeat. "The Fatah security forces had originally been established on shaky foundations. This is the main reason why they collapsed so quickly. Hamas had long been demanding the reconstruction of these forces on national, not factional, bases. These forces should have worked for the interests of all Palestinians, rather than the faction's alone," he explained.

He said the second reason for Fatah's downfall was because the faction's commanders and leaders had either run away or surrendered to Hamas. "

In other words, Fatah has no claim to be part of the Palestinian government.
Posted by: lotp   2007-06-24 09:20  

#6  Hamas was surprised by the easy and swift defeat of Fatah

I guess they figured a whole lot more folks were going to die - and didn't care.
Posted by: Bobby   2007-06-24 09:00  

#5  Actually this is a very revealing statement. To wit. All kinds of experts always attribute long term, complicated plans to various Jihad groups. Hello! Earth to experts: Muslims don't plan all that well---their successes are due to persistently doing "what comes natural".
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-06-24 06:13  

#4  "We kept pulling the trigger but never expected to actually kill anyone."
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-24 04:39  

#3  Like the dog that catches the car; what to do with it?
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-06-24 02:15  

#2  Hamas broke the remaining windows. Hope they enjoy rebuilding... for the next 1000 years
Posted by: 3dc   2007-06-24 00:43  

#1  "Hello Boss? Uh. We won all of Gaza. Geez, what are we gonna do wit it now?"
Posted by: Anguling Turkeyneck9310   2007-06-24 00:36  

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