Palestinian Civil War Watch - 14

There was a ceasefire called last night, but nobody came.

Less than a day after another ceasefire agreement was attained between Fatah and Hamas, on Saturday morning violence between the factions erupted anew, and eight Palestinian were wounded.

Severe gun battles erupted on the streets of Gaza City, nearby President Mahmoud Abbas’ office and the Palestinian security headquarters in city center. Witnesses reported that gunmen from both camps were positioned in the area and there was heavy gunfire.

In an attempt to establish control, Palestinian security forces set up roadblocks in Gaza City and at various strategic points throughout the Strip.

Saturday morning eight people were wounded, one of them severely, in the clashes between the factions.

During the morning hours members of the Fatah-linked Palestinian presidential guard raided and vandalized the Agriculture Ministry in Gaza City, which is under Hamas authority, in search of documents, weapons and suspects.

I call this phase the war of the buildings.

So far Fatah has torched a Hamas University and Hamas has recprocated. However, Hamas is up one radio station. We shall see how long that lasts.

Update: 04 Feb '07 1313z

One person was killed in Saturday's fighting.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought in Gaza City's beachfront neighborhoods and around security compounds early Sunday, ignoring renewed truce appeals and Arab mediation efforts. One man was killed, raising the death toll from three days of fighting to 26, the AP reported.

Latest reports are that the cease fire is not holding. Heh.

GAZA (Reuters) - Mortar bombs exploded near the Gaza offices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and rival gunmen exchanged fire in the streets, ignoring another shaky truce in the factional war between Fatah and Hamas.

The fighting has brought life to a near-standstill for residents of the narrow coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

Some Gaza residents ventured onto the streets for the first time in days to find masked gunmen manning checkpoints and most stores closed despite the latest ceasefire deal.
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"We pray to God that the fighting, which only served Israel, will stop once and for all," Abu Mohammad said, standing outside his Gaza City home.

A hospital official said two members of Abbas's presidential guard, a force that receives U.S.-funded training and non-lethal equipment, died on Sunday from gunshot wounds suffered in fighting over the weekend.

The latest deaths raised to 27 the number of Palestinians killed in factional clashes in the last four days. Few expected the truce, announced on Saturday, to last.

You can count me among the many who predicted there would be no truce.

Hamas has a high level hostage.

Tensions between Fatah and Hamas were again running high in the Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan's nephew by Hamas gunmen on Sunday afternoon.

According to reports, Ashraf Dahlan was stopped at a Hamas checkpoint when the incident occurred. Currently there is no information of his whereabouts, nor have any demands been issued for his release.

Earlier Sunday, Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought in Gaza City's beachfront neighborhoods and around security compounds, ignoring renewed truce appeals and Arab mediation efforts. One man was killed, raising the death toll from three days of fighting to 26.

That is down somewhat from the rate during their previous clash where about 10 a day were killed. It could be random fluctuation or changes in strategies and tactics.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 13

They are back at it.

At least one Palestinian was killed and some 20 others were wounded Thursday afternoon in fierce exchanges of fire that erupted between Hamas and Fatah gunmen in Gaza.

A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed during the gun battles, and two of those injured in the fighting are listed in critical condition.

The violence broke out in the central Gaza town of Bureij after Hamas militants hijacked a convoy delivering supplies to the Fatah-allied security forces, security officials said.

Security reinforcements were seen flooding into the town. Soon after, separate gun battles broke out in Gaza City and in northern Gaza outside a military intelligence post. Security officials said Hamas militants fired a rocket was fired at the post.

A Fatah member was kidnapped in northern Gaza during the clashes, security officials said.

In another incident unknown gunmen opened fire early Thursday at Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum as he drove with three bodyguards in his white sedan toward an impromptu checkpoint near Gaza City, Hamas said.

I predicted the most recent truce would last one or two days. It looks like it lasted three days. More or less. Read the whole article at the link. I have excerpted just a small part of the mayhem.

I do not believe it will come to an actual end for years if not decades. This is an old fashioned power struggle with outside powers feeding both sides. The Palestinians will bleed until the funding for the factions ceases.

See Follow the Money for one of my first looks at the money side of the equation.

The Jerusalem Post reports four dead.

Gunfights between Hamas and Fatah gunmen erupted across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, effectively destroying a three-day-old truce that brought a brief period of quiet to the volatile area.

The new wave of street battles killed at least four people, one of them a security officer, and left dozens more wounded.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 12

The current cease fire is holding. Except for one killing. So far.

A Hamas affiliated gunman was shot dead in Khan Younies on Tuesday afternoon. Hamas officials are holding gunmen from Fateh responsible for the shooting. It is the first fatality to be reported since the cease-fire came into effect at 3 A.M [local time -which is +2GMT - ed.] on Tuesday morning.

The man killed was an operative of the Al-Qassam brigades, an armed wing affiliated with the Hamas movement, according to Palestinian security sources. The gunman who opened fire at him has not yet been identified.

IMEMC called Fawzi Barhoum, the spokesman of Hamas in the Gaza strip. He stated that apparently some groups of Fateh are not commited to the political leadership commands of Fateh movement, and are still acting on an individual basis.

Jeeze, what a surprise. The chain of command is unsound. They don't have orders. They have "suggestions".

Give the situation, in another day or two the battles will be raging again.

It looks like the person killed was a Hamas military leader.

Gunmen shot dead a Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and the Islamist group blamed a Fatah-dominated security service for the first killing in the territory since a ceasefire went into effect overnight.

Hospital officials in the southern town of Khan Younis said Hussein Shabasi was shot in the head.

A spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing said he was killed by the Preventive Security Service, most of whose members belong to President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction. The security service denied any connection with his death.

It looks like the cease fire is holding. So far. In addition Fatah and Hamas have exchanged hostages.

Rival Palestinian factions have swapped hostages under a ceasefire deal that went into effect hours earlier, largely halting gun battles in which at least 30 Palestinians were killed.

The internal Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip was the fiercest since the Islamist Hamas group, which rejects peace talks with Israel, trounced the more moderate Fatah faction in elections last year, triggering a Western aid embargo.

A total of 20 Hamas and 18 Fatah hostages were freed over a several-hour period, said Samih al-Madhoun, a senior leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah.

"The process of handing over the hostages has been completed," Madhoun said.

The truce agreed late on Tuesday to end five days of fighting seemed to be generally holding despite the killing of a Hamas commander in Gaza on Tuesday.

The ceasefire went into effect after Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met an aide to Abbas.

The bloodshed had derailed unity government talks between Hamas and Fatah and prompted some families in the coastal strip to flee their homes.

Shops are opening. Traffic is resuming. People are coming out of their homes after being shut in for 5 days. It is quite possible that this truce will hold. For a while. Which would make my prediction of a couple of days to rest and refit wrong.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 11

The Palestinian civil war appears to be raging on. Fighting appears to be heavy and wide spread.

22:43 Jan 29, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was unhurt in heavy fighting near his home and office as he called for a halt in the violence which claimed the lives of at least thee more people Monday.

Heavy exchanges of gunfire between Fatah and Hamas supporters were reported earlier in the evening, and a rocket propelled grenade was fired on the Gaza police station a short time ago.

The Ynet News has more details.

An explosion ripped through the Shati refugee camp near Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's house after nightfall Monday, witnesses said.

There was no immediate word of casualties.

Haniyeh's Hamas and rival Fatah forces have been fighting for several months. In another incident around the same time, security officials said Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a police station near Haniyeh's office in Gaza City.

All this fighting might explain why the Palestinians were offering the Israelis a ten year truce. The maximum allowed under some Muslim law doctrines. Without a truce to refocus on Israel the Palestinians have begun to focus their anger on each other. Which is one way to work it out.

Great news. A cease fire has been declared.

Warring Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza declared a cease-fire early Tuesday, set to go into effect at 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT,) Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas announced.

Zahar spoke after a meeting between PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and a representative of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, with the participation of Egyptian mediators. They flanked him during his statement.

I hope that works out as well as the previous cease fires.

A Palestinian blogger has called on Israel to bomb Palestine. Nope. This is not a joke.

Following the suicide bombing in Eilat Monday, Palestinian journalist Fadi Abu Sada offered his two cents on the attack and the infighting in Gaza through his blog on Palestinian News Network:

“Israel poising to respond on Eilat attack, it could be by the aerial bombardment and artillery, or perhaps they will try to assassinate Palestinian resistance leaders, what a ironically, we really want that to happen quickly, it might be the only solution to stop the bloody fighting between brothers in the Gaza Strip.

Fadi goes on to say:

“No Palestinian faction, and no one seems to be now able to mediate between fighters, and stop the bloodshed, either Arabs and their calls on the parties to meet in the country, and it does not seem that anyone actually will respond to that, despite the welcome media practitioners.

“It's defective to reach such thinking, to call Israel to stop this shameful chapter in the chapters of the Palestinian case, if there is case still after all that has already happened and is happening.

“But if this is the only option, there is no problem in this, if this will remind the fighters for a moment that the occupation is still perched on us, because it seems to be lost on their chest.

So there you have it. The only hope for Palestinian national unity is for the Israelis to maintain the occupation and to regularly attack the Palestinians.

However, I don't think the Israelis will oblige. They have been very restrained of late. What is amazing is that the Sharon Plan for the evacuation of Gaza foresaw all this (not in detail) several years ago. The man is lying in a coma and his plan is working. A true military genius.

Let me note in my "Patterns are Emerging" post (link below) I suggested that the Israelis may be using the civil war to ethnically cleanse Gaza and the territories. Fadi echos that sentiment:

“No many options left: Either do same as what happened in Eilat, either go to hell, or leaving the country with shame of what's happening.”

That didn't take long. The truce was suppsed to go into effect at 0100 GMT Tuesday. It is now 0414 GMT and the civil war is back on. Note Israel time is GMT +2.

Fighting raged in Gaza Tuesday morning despite a cease-fire declaration by warring factions.

Gunfire and explosions were audible in downtown Gaza City as gunmen from Fatah and Hamas ignored the cease-fire, reached at a midnight meeting between Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and a representative of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

It is a wonder they can get together without killing each other.

The latest news is that the cease fire appears to be holding for now. (times given are Israeliy time which is +2 from GMT)

Jan. 30, 2007 0:46 | Updated Jan. 30, 2007 9:52

A cease-fire started taking hold in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, after five days of intense Hamas-Fatah fighting that left 34 people dead.

However, previous truce deals struck in recent weeks of factional clashes quickly collapsed, and it appeared unlikely the two sides would comply with all the terms of the current agreement, such as handing over all those involved in killings and abductions.

I give it two days to get started up again.

In Gaza City, gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the night, but the shooting stopped at about 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), several hours after the cease-fire deal was struck

That explains the earlier reports.

Here are links to the last few Civil war watches. Because you can't tell the players without a score card. You can also click on the tag "Palestinian Civil War Watch" and get all the articles.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 10
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 9
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 8
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 7

and a few other items of interest:

Patterns Are Emerging
Very Complicated
Iraq Comes To Gaza
Palestinians Unpopular
Its Official
Pulling Out Doesn't Work
It's A Family Affair

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 10

No slack Saturday. The bodies pile up.

Deadly battles between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have continued in the Gaza Strip, leaving at least five more dead.

Saturday's deaths raise the toll since Thursday night to at least 22.

However, despite tension, the funerals for those killed on the previous day passed off peacefully on Saturday.

Clashes erupted in Gaza after weeks of relative calm and renewed efforts to form a national unity government. Both sides say they have suspended talks.

Those killed on Saturday included a boy of 11 or 12 who was hit during a shootout late at night between the two factions in the northern Gaza Strip.

Earlier at least one person died in a gun battle near Gaza's Islamic University, while another died in a car explosion - rumoured to be caused when explosives being carried in the vehicle exploded.

Shops were shut up and the streets of Gaza City were almost empty on Saturday as people hid inside from the gangs of gunmen stalking the streets.

Members of Hamas and Fatah have fired mortars and grenades at each other and mounted tit-for-tat kidnappings.

This is down a bit from Friday when 13 died. Friday sermons at the mosque seem to be very inflamatory on most Fridays.

The IHT has an even larger body count.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: Gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah movements battled in Gaza City for a third straight day, firing mortars and grenades in clashes that killed seven people in the increasingly bloody power struggle over the Palestinian government.

Saturday's deaths brought to 25 the number of Palestinians killed since late Thursday, with at least 68 people wounded and efforts to forge a coalition government at a standstill.

The latest fighting, which began late Thursday after a Hamas activist was killed in a bombing, has been among the deadliest in nearly two months of clashes.

Opinions in Gaza show that the situation is bleak and getting bleaker.

A poll conducted amongst Gaza Arabs last month shows that over fifty percent believe that the current violence marks the beginning of a civil war. Sixty-six percent said that they are pessimistic about the situation, and eighty-seven percent said that they feel unsafe. The poll was conducted by an-Najah university in Shechem, with five hundred Gaza Arabs participating, along with eight hundred and sixty Arabs from Judea and the Shomron.

Update: 28 Jan '07 0802z

Fighting rages on.

GAZA CITY (AP) -- Gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah movements battled each other in Gaza Sunday, continuing an increasingly bloody power struggle over the Palestinian government that left the coastal strip littered with dead over the weekend, while civilians cowered in their homes.

An explosion early in the morning rocked the home of a bodyguard to Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, but the man was not in the building and no casualties were reported. At least eight people were wounded in exchanges of fire between the sides overnight, Palestinian security officials said.

The longer this goes on the harder it will be to stop. Fortunately.

It looks like some one has it in for Palestinian President Abbas.

Ronny Shaked Published: 01.28.07, 08:46

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas escaped an assassination attempt last week. Four large explosive devices were uncovered by Abbas' security officers on the road leading from the Erez crossing to Gaza, as the Palestinian president left Ramallah and was about to travel on that route.

Upon discovering the devices, Abbas' security officers instructed him to return to Ramallah. The explosive devices were detonated by sappers of the Presidential Guard.

The assassination attempt took place while the Palestinian president was on his way to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to discuss the establishment of a national unity government.

You know it looks like some one is not negotiating in good faith. That is a surprise. Normally the Palestinians are such honorable men.

The UN has the proper line.

The UN's Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto called on all the factions "to cease clashes and comply with international humanitarian law by refraining from acts which endanger civilians".

The violence also showed signs of spreading to the West Bank, where Palestinian police clashed with about 200 Hamas supporters on Saturday.

Everything the Palestinians do, from suicide bombs, to rockets shot into Israel, to using human shields is predicated on endangering and harming civilians. Why should they stop now?

Update: 28 Jan '07 1803z

Calm has been restored to Gaza.

A relative halt to the inter-factional bloodshed in Gaza was brought about through mediation by an Egyptian security delegation between various Palestinian groups. However, kidnappings continue in the West Bank and the tense ceasefire appears close to a breakdown.

Funeral processions are taking place in Gaza, where four more people were killed Sunday morning during the fourth day of Hamas and Fatah infighting. Since Thursday night, 24 people have died, including a two year old boy caught in the crossfire.

Violence continued in the West Bank, with riots in Nablus Sunday afternoon. Members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades – Fatah's military wing – kidnapped at least ten Hamas operatives, including senior municipality officials.

Violence resumes.

GAZA, Jan 28 (KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen shot dead on Sunday a Palestinian Hamas activist in the city of Khan Yonis south of Gaza.

Hamas Radio, Al-Aqsa, in Gaza said "gunmen opened fire toward Nasser Sharab, 22, a member of the Executive Force of the Interior Ministry in one of the streets in Khan Yonis." According to the Al-Aqsa radio, Hamas blames members of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah military wing, for the shooting, and directly put blame on Palestinian legislative member Mohammad Dahlan for the incident.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 9

It has been about 20 days since the last Palestinian Civil War Watch. And the Palestinians are at it again:

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Rival Palestinian factions clashed across the Gaza Strip, killing six people, as thousands of Hamas supporters marched on Friday to mark the Islamist group's election victory over Fatah opponents last year.

The escalating violence forced the postponement of talks to form a coalition government which could ease a U.S.-led boycott imposed after Hamas won Palestinian elections last January.

Ah yes, the fabled, mythical, imaginairy, national unity government. Just a little more talking will close the deal and return Gaza to the Paradise it once was.

"The entire dialogue could explode," Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, blaming Hamas for the tension. "How can dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?"

The talks, due to resume on Friday, were pushed back to Sunday.

Three Hamas supporters, a militant from the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and two bystanders were killed in violence which began with a bombing on Thursday night and continued with a spate of shootings on Friday.

I guess he wasn't kidding about bombs under the table. Literally.

Further updates as the civil war war progresses.

Update: 26 Jan '07 2258z

Busy day in "Palestine".

Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a militant from the rival Fatah movement late Friday, witnesses said, sparking a deadly gun battle and capping a day of factional violence that killed at least 12 people, including a two-year-old boy, across the Gaza Strip.

Friday's violence was among the deadliest in nearly two months of infighting and marred the first anniversary of Hamas' upset victory in Palestinian elections. After nightfall, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout Gaza City.


Some of the heaviest shooting was concentrated around the home of Mansour Shaleil, a local Fatah leader in the Jebaliya refugee camp just north of Gaza City.

Hamas is celebrating one year in office:

GAZA: Rival Palestinian factions clashed across the Gaza Strip, killing six people, as thousands of Hamas supporters marched on Friday to mark the Islamist group’s election victory over Fatah opponents last year.

I wonder if their celebrations always include hunan sacrifice?

Both Fatah and Hamas officials said late Friday that unity talks would be suspended until the fighting ends. Both sides blamed each other for the breakdown.

Boy. That really breaks my heart. They were so close to an agreement. Just a little more effort would have done it. And, now this. Pity really.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Iraq Comes To Gaza

Evidently the Palestinians have learned a great lesson from the Civil War in Iraq. Road side bombs work.

GAZA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed a member of a Hamas-led security force in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and wounded five others, a Hamas police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the six were travelling in a jeep when the bomb was detonated. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

I wonder how this will help the moves towards a national unity government? I guess some one is trying to veto the plan.

Update: 26 Jan '07 0614z

Hamas is fighting back.

Hamas gunmen shot dead a member of the Fatah faction's militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in the northern Gaza Strip early Friday, a Fatah spokesman said.

The spokesman said that the militant was "executed" by members of Hamas' security force, who had come to question the slain militant about the death of one of their members.

The Hamas militants surrounded the house, said the spokesman, sparking a gunbattle which killed the Fatah man.

I guess his answer (a hail of lead) was unacceptable.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 8

Let me start this one out with a clown photo. Which at least at the current time accompanies an article about 8 new deaths in the Palestinian civil war.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night to discuss a solution to the current inter-faction violence after a day of clashes between Hamas and Fatah loyalists left eight Palestinians dead.

According to Army Radio, Haniyeh, of Hamas, said the two had agreed at the meeting to work toward ending the infighting in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

"We are going to end all armed displays in the streets," Haniyeh told reporters. he said. Abbas had no comment.

Wait a minute. I thought that was already accomplished in the last cease fire.

I suppose such promises are about as reliable as their cease fire promises to Israel.

The eight Palestinians killed in Thursday's armed confrontations brought the death toll to 13 over the past 48 hours. At least 16 Palestinians were wounded in Thursday's fighting.

Haniyeh, who returned to the Gaza Strip after a week-long visit to Saudi Arabia, appealed to the warring factions to halt the fighting and to direct their weapons toward Israel. Fatah officials, on the other hand, accused Hamas of operating "death squads" in the Gaza Strip.

With no Jews in Gaza any more it seems the Palestinians are turning on each other. Sort of a way to maintain military proficiecy in live fire exercises. Given the picture of the clowns I'd say they had a ways to go.

This scene is much more horiffic:

The body of Gen. Muhammed Gharib, chief of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Service in northern Gaza, riddled with bullets and mutilated by stab wounds, was found in his home in northern Gaza Thursday after a daylong battle with Hamas gunmen. Gharib's two daughters were also killed during the fighting, according to reports.

Gharib was on the phone to Palestine TV just moments before his death and appealed for help as his house came under attack. "They are killers," he said of the Hamas gunmen. "They are targeting the house, children are dying, they are bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance, we want an ambulance, somebody move."

It is one thing to kill a man because of political differences. Killing his children will get a serious blood feud started. The #1 rule of any successful mafia is that families are off limits. "Businessmen" OK. That is just business. Families are, well, family. When that rule is violated the feud gets serious. It is no longer about business. It is about blood.

Update: 05 Jan '07 1733z

The Jerusalem Post reports that a muslim cleric calling for peace between Palestinian factions was killed Friday.

There was no claim of responsibility in the death of Adel Nasar, who was shot by gunmen outside the mosque in the Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

Nasar was not openly affiliated with any political party, but he was a well-known figure in the refugee camp and often spoke against Hamas in his sermons. He belonged to a small group called "The Sunna People," which advocates the imposition of Islamic law.

In a sermon Friday, Nasar had criticized the latest wave of Gaza's factional violence, in which seven Fatah men were killed in an attack widely blamed on the rival Hamas movement, witnesses said.

Nasar said fighting between Muslims is forbidden, and warned that God is going to punish the killers of the men as well as Palestinian rulers for not implementing the rule of God, the witnesses said.

He did not mention Hamas by name, but he appeared to be referring to the group, which controls most of the Palestinian government.

Evidently there are Palestinians who prefer war to peace and they are willing to kill to get what they want and to silence opposition. Who could have guessed?

Well here is a cheery little thought from Fatah.

Fatah issued a statement in Gaza: "Blood for blood and aggression for aggression ... and all the sons of the movement should retaliate to each aggression openly."

As I said. This is turning into a blood feud.

Update: 05 Jan '07 1544z

Two Hamas officials have been kidnapped as violence spread to the West Bank

Gunmen attacked Hamas officials in two separate incidents in the West Bank on Saturday, as weeks of factional violence in the Gaza Strip appeared to be spreading to the West Bank as well.

In the first incident, gunmen stopped the car of Nablus' deputy mayor, Mahdi al-Khamdali, pulled him out and took him away in a separate car, security officials said.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, meanwhile, gunmen stormed the offices of the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, shot the office manager in the legs and took him away, Palestinian security officials said.

The man, also a Hamas supporter, was released in a nearby town and hospitalized, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Hamas’ paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip illegal, raising the stakes in his standoff with the Islamic movement.

Update: 07 Jan '07 0909z

It is a family affair.

Three Palestinians members of the al-Dire family, loyal to Hamas, were killed Saturday by members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City in the continuing internal Palestinian violence and seven people injured.

Two members of the Dughmush family were killed in fighting last week. The family demands that the ruling Islamic Hamas party hand over 18 people to them whom they have accused of involvment in the killings. They have also accused the al-Dire members of involvement as well.

Earlier, Dughmush members had kidnapped four Hamas supporters in Gaza.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 7

After over a week of relative quiet the Palestinians are at it again.

GAZA (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen killed a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in Gaza on Wednesday and a car carrying Hamas security officers was ambushed, as simmering internal tensions threatened to erupt.

A gunbattle between militants loyal to Fatah and the ruling Hamas movement broke out in the Jabalya refugee camp soon after the two incidents in northern Gaza, witnesses said. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.

Fatah and Hamas declared a truce in December to end weeks of deadly violence which escalated into running street battles in Gaza after Abbas called for early parliamentary and presidential elections to break a political deadlock with Hamas.

Hamas condemned Abbas's move as a coup to oust it less than a year after it surprised Fatah to win a parliamentary ballot.

Fatah sources blamed Hamas militants for the shooting of the Fatah militant. Residents said he was on a rooftop in the town of Beit Lahiya with other Fatah gunmen when he was shot.

Hamas officials were not immediately available to comment but blamed Fatah for opening fire on a vehicle carrying members of a Hamas-led police force in the area.

I guess the Palestinian national unity government will have to be delayed a while longer.

Meanwhile Palestinian Preventive Security wants all foreigners to leave Gaza. Presumably so the real civil war can begin without outside observers.

Gaza City, 3 January - The Palestinian Preventive Security, headed by Mohammed Dahlan, ordered foreign nationals to leave the Gaza Strip because of an alleged threat of further abductions, following the kidnapping on Monday of a Peruvian press photographer, Jaime Razuri. Razuri, who worked for Agence France Press, has not yet been released.

The order to evacute foreigners from Gaza would affect mostly and most hardly expatriate employees of UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. Christian Nordahl, deputy director of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip confirmed having received an "advice" by the Preventive Security forces about a general kidnapping threat, but UNRWA spokesman Johan Eriksson declared that "in our view, this doesn't change the situation from what it has been in the past two years ... at the moment we are staying put."

If the UNWRA was not distributing food. Some one would have to take that function over. Evidently Fatah (Mohammed Dahlan) thinks it has the upper hand for such an eventuality. The end result would be the use of food as a weapon. Support Fatah and eat. Support Hamas and look for another source of supply.

Update: 03 Jan'07 2125z

Kidnappings followed by violence.

At least three elite Hamas operatives were wounded in violent clashes with Fatah operatives in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon, Israel Radio reported.

According to Palestinian sources, Hamas kidnapped two members of the PA Preventative Security forces.

Hamas, however, denied the kidnappings.

So, in the spirit of the cycle of violence Fatah retaliates.

Masked gunmen shot at the Palestinian Authority Religious Ministry building in the West Bank town of Tulkarm on Wednesday afternoon.

No one was wounded in the incident which was assumed to be perpetrated by Fatah operatives seeking vengeance for the casualties inflicted on its members in Gaza earlier in the day.

Three Fatah operatives killed.

Tensions are not expected to subside anytime soon in the Palestinian Authority as a particularly bloody day of infighting comes to an end in Gaza.

On Wednesday the Fatah movement declared a state of high alert amongst its ranks in Gaza, calling for them to adjust their deployment following the deaths of three officers from the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PPSS) and an additional Fatah loyalist in clashes earlier in the day.

Members were called to "be prepared and defend themselves by any means in the face of attack."

Fatah has accused Hamas of instigating the violence and for the wave of kidnappings that plagued Gaza on Tuesday, when no less than 23 people were abducted by both organizations.

A woman who was uninvolved in the fighting was also killed today after she was caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Fatah gunmen in Jabaliya.

While the focus of the clashes remains in northern Gaza, representatives from Hamas and Fatah in southern Gaza struck an agreement to end the violence late Wednesday evening. It remains unclear if this agreement will bring to the fighting to an end.

I'm betting the violence will escalate.

Later in the evening Palestinian sources reported that senior Fatah military wing leader Hassan al-Qasas, member narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen fired an RPG towards him and another senior group member. Fatah has blamed Hamas for the attack.

Ahmad Sarur, a resident of Beit Lahiya, told Ynet on Wednesday that the situation in northern Gaza is "very frightening." Sarur says that masked gunmen are positioned at every junction and along every route. According to Sarur the gunmen interrogate people on the street and search them.

"Everywhere you go there are masked Hamas fighters," he described his surroundings, "Fatah is nowhere to be seen in the streets, Hamas has taken control of things here."

Sarur said that residents are embittered about the situation and that there seems to be no solution to the crisis.

Update: 04 Jan '07 1720z

A total of five people were killed in Gaza Wednesday.

GAZA (Reuters) - Clashes erupted between forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas government in Gaza on Wednesday, killing five people in the worst fighting since the rivals agreed a fragile truce two weeks ago.

At least nine people were wounded in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.

Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas declared the cease-fire in the wake of violence that escalated after Abbas called for early elections to break a political deadlock with the Islamists.

Hamas condemned Abbas's move as a coup to oust it less than a year after it surprised Fatah to win a parliamentary ballot.

The fresh violence is likely to revive fears among Palestinians that Gaza could slip into civil war.

Neither has the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians also seek statehood, been spared. Unidentified gunmen abducted a Hamas government aide in Ramallah, security sources said. In Jenin, gunmen fired at the home of Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs, Wasfi Kabha, the sources said. He was unhurt.

Among the Gaza dead were three security officials loyal to Abbas who were killed in the southern town of Khan Younis, hospital officials said.

Abbas's Preventive Security force said the three died when a Hamas police unit ambushed two of its vehicles. Hamas said the security force fired first.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 6

The Palestinians are still at it.

A mother of two was murdered Tuesday evening in front of her children in the city of Ramla, south of Tel Aviv. The woman, a 29-year-old divorcee, was killed by a barrage of gunshots while standing at the entrance to her home.

Large police forces were dispatched to the scene of the incident and began looking for suspects. According to estimates, the murder was carried out as a "honor killing."

The police investigation revealed that the woman was standing at the entrance to her home with her two 4-year-old and 8-year-old children, and was about to leave the house. The babysitter who arrived to look after the children was also present.

Meanwhile, "militants" are targeting internet cafes.

Fundamentalist Islamists in Gaza have begun a campaign of bombing and arson against Internet cafes, pharmacies and pool halls.

A group calling itself the Swords of Islamic Righteousness issued a statement claiming responsibility for some of the attacks, denouncing Western, immoral behavior, such as unveiled women and loud music, a Times of London correspondent reported.

The group said it would continue "shooting rocket-propelled grenades and planting bombs at Internet cafes in Gaza, which are trying to make a whole generation preoccupied with matters other than jihad and worship."

Pharmacies suspected of dispensing smuggled hallucinogens have also been targeted, as have pool halls, which the fundamentalists claim are immoral.

I guess they have watched "The Music Man" one too many times.

Check out Palestinian Civil War Watch - 5 for more on the war on CD shops and mobile phone stores.

Ramzy Baroud comments in Arab News about Palestinian discontents. He blames the Palestinian's problems on outside agitators.

What is taking place in the Occupied Territories, particularly in the Gaza Strip has much less to do with inter-factional rivalries and a lot more with regional and international power plays, in which some foolhardy Palestinians decided to involve themselves for the sake of maintaining personal and factional gains.

To avoid delving into self-pity, I wish to emphasize a point that I have made repeatedly in the past: If it were not for the dysfunctional nature and lack of unity within the myriad of political and societal structures that claims to represent the Palestinian people, no political designs, be it American or Israeli or any other, would've succeeded in duping the Palestinians into such caustic behavior and self-defeatism. (The gunning down of three kids on Dec. 11 and the killing of other innocent people, including children, in addition to the attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Dec. 14, have indeed crossed all red lines.)

The outside agitator problem is an argument I made in Follow The Money

Previous postings in the series:

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 0
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 1
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 2
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 3
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 4
Palestinian Civil War Watch - 5

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 5

The hits just keep on coming.

RAFAH, Gaza, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A senior Palestinian security official was in critical condition Saturday after being shot by gunmen in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, officials said. His bodyguard and a 9-year-old girl were also wounded, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's drive-by shooting of Col. Hassan Jarbouh, 33, YNet News reported.

Security officials allied with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed the attack on the Islamic militant group, Hamas.

Bodyguard Ahmed Mansour and 9-year-old Amal Jaber, a bystander, suffered moderate wounds, officials said.

Earlier, Palestinians reported gunfire near Abbas' office in Gaza City, YNet News said.

That is not all. It appears that Palestinians are not only killing each other (or trying to), but also burning down Gaza.

The anarchy in the Gaza Strip, which has focused on the political struggle between Fatah and Hamas up until now, has taken on a new, disturbing form.

The Palestinian Authority said that a new group, which is most likely inspired by al-Qaeda, has begun acting out against 'secular' targets that supposedly offend Islam.

Anonymous persons ignited a CD shop in Khan Younis Saturday night, causing tens of thousands of dollar worth of damage.

Activists of the group, called "The Sword of Islam" went to the trouble of warning the store's owner Nidal Abdin before blowing up his shop.

The activists told him that they intended to blow the store up if he continued to sell CD's and cosmetics that "offend morals and the Muslim religion."

The PA believes that this act is also the doing of the new group that has begun activity in the past few months on the Gaza Strip.

A few weeks ago another businesses selling CD's and mobile phones was set on fire in Khan Younis. In another incident that occurred in Gaza City, anonymous persons set fire to an internet café, claiming that it is used as a meeting place for "forbidden and immoral relations."

The Sword of Islam organization published a few announcements in which it declared that its men will continue to harm anyone who causes damage to the Islamic identity and the Islamic tradition of the residents of the Strip. So far, the organization is holding up to its threats.

Sources in the Palestinian Authority fear that these attacks on businesses on religious background will only worsen, following the deteriorating political and security anarchy on the Strip, and the void created by security forces, since part of them are now on strike.

The Taliban have arrived in the Palestinian territories. This will lead, over time, to ethnic self cleansing.

These fellers do know their enemy. Western culture and civilization. It is only a matter of time before they go after satellite dishes. They are already doing cell phones. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

I'm still of the opinion that, despite the cost to the Israelis, the Gaza evacuation, engineered by Sharon, was one of the most brilliant of the moves in Israel's war against the Palestinians. The Israeli retreat has dislocated the Palestinian war efforts. As well planned retreats often do.

The Arab American News gets it:

Israel's soldiers are not going to march into Gaza and truck all the inhabitants away. The strategy is simply to make the place into a garbage dump picked over by destitute people. The current ceasefire will do nothing to relieve the siege imposed physically, financially, commercially by Israel, the U.S. and the E.U. Israel and its accomplices are sentencing Gaza's occupants to a living death in situ, with actual death meted out each day to "terrorists" and those unfortunate enough to be in the line of fire, like the family in Beit Hanoun or the school teacher by the minibus filled with children (a near miss).

The fratricide going on in Gaza and the West Bank territories has caused a significant weakening of international sympathy for the Palestinians. The Palestinians are doing their best to make themselves look bad in the eyes of the international public.

The terrorists are terrorizing each other.

The Israeli withdrawal left a power vacuum. Palestinian factions are fighting it out to determine who will wind up on top. There will come a time when the Israelis are asked to re-occupy Gaza - there have been lone voices calling for this already. In fact when the Gaza pull out was announced the Palestinian government said that the Israelis couldn't do that without a peace treaty. The Israelis ignored them.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 4

There appears to be a stunning lack of faith in Gaza.

GAZA CITY - As a cease-fire took hold in Gaza on Wednesday after more than a week of factional fighting, residents were angry at the Palestinian gunmen and despondent about the future.

Violence can erupt again at any moment, they said, because the enmity between followers of Hamas and those loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas has only become more intense, and no political solution is in sight.

Emotions were so pitched that schools and Gaza City's universities were shuttered, and gunmen guarded Hamas ministries and Abbas' seaside residence and office. Hospitals couldn't place wounded from different factions in the same room for fear of clashes between their relatives.

It appears that the faith in the numerous announced cease fires is limited. Very limited.

Here is something you don't hear very much about:

Nearly 350 Palestinians have been killed in internal fighting in Gaza this year, including family feuds and gun battles between militias, according to Health Ministry officials. But the past week was the bloodiest.

It began with an ambush that killed the three young sons of an Abbas-allied intelligence officer on their way to school. The spot where the children's car was riddled with bullets was still marked by wreaths on the sidewalk on Wednesday.

Update: 21 Dec'06 2354z

Haaretz reports on the problems a civil war spill over will cause the countries of the region.

Update: 22 Dec'06 0021z

The Palestinian Civil War, after a two day break is back on.

A series of heavy gunbattles between Hamas and Fatah militants broke out in Gaza City early Friday, despite a two-day-old truce that had largely ended factional violence in Gaza.

The gunfights erupted near the Hamas-controlled Foreign Ministry and the Gaza residence of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah. Abbas was not in Gaza at the time.

The violence came after a Hamas militant, Mahmoud Al-Lali, was kidnapped late Thursday night by armed men, who fired assault rifles in the streets and seriously wounded a bystander.

I guess this will delay the national unity government for a few days.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 3

The Palestinians are back to fighting the civil war. Note that in a previous post I predicted the truce would last no more that 12 hours. We actually got 2.

At least two Palestinian were killed and seven other people were wounded after fighting broke out just two hours after the implementation of a cease-fire between Hamas and Fatah on Tuesday night.

It was unknown whether the deceased belonged to Hamas or Fatah.

No doubt the details will be out by the end of the day.

We have more details:

Two people were killed and six others wounded early Wednesday in battles between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza City, just hours after the feuding factions agreed to hold fire for the second time this week.

The two slain men were identified as members of the Palestinian National Security Forces, allied with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. They were killed when an anti-tank missile was fired at a police position in the city.

Hamas and Fatah security forces late Tuesday began withdrawing from parts of Gaza City at 11 P.M., security sources and witnesses said, after a week of rampant violence left 14 dead and dozens wounded.

It looks like the truce only lasted minutes. Time enough to check your weapon and reload if necessary. I was going to go out on a limb and say the truce could be over in an hour. What an optimist I was to expect 12 hours of relative calm.

Gaza residents reported gunfire between rival fighters minutes after the truce, which was brokered by Egyptian mediators, went into effect.

A previous truce between the ruling Hamas faction and once-dominant Fatah, signed Sunday, broke down within 24 hours.

"We bless and support this agreement," Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah during his confirmation of the second truce on Tuesday. "We hope all will abide by this agreement."

Hamas and Fatah security chiefs earlier appeared side by side in Gaza City to declare that Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas had agreed to pull back their gunmen.

The two sides also agreed to form a joint operations room with the Fatah-led security forces to respond quickly to any outbreaks of violence, a PA official said.

Like that is going to work.

The civil war will go on for decades. Arabs hold grudges for a very long time. Catholics and Protestants are on better terms than Sunni and Shia. BTW Fatah is backed by Sunni Saudi Arabia (and others), Hamas is backed by Shia Iran (and others). America is backing Fatah. Europe is hedging its bets. The Israelis back Fatah, but actually prefer to keep their distance. Not to mention closely guarding the border to Gaza, keeping the fight inside the cage.

Update: 20 Dec'06 1453z

Jordan worries that the fighting will get out of the cage and continue where ever Palestinians live. Places like Jordan and Lebanon for instance.

AMMAN [MENL] -- Jordan has been concerned that the Fatah-Hamas militia war could spread throughout the Middle East.

Government sources said the Hashemite kingdom has been preparing for the prospect that the war in the Gaza Strip would affect countries with large Palestinian populations. Seventy percent of Jordan's population is Palestinian.

"The situation in the Palestinian refugee camps is very tense," a source said. "They, too, have large cadres of Hamas and Fatah people."

The sources said Jordan has relayed messages to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority regarding the danger of the Fatah-Hamas militia war. They said the kingdom has bolstered security around the 11 refugee camps and near the Jordan River.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 2

The Palestinians have stepped up their fighting.

GAZA (Reuters) - Gunbattles raged between Hamas loyalists and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's forces in Gaza City on Tuesday, killing at least three people and reviving fears the strip could slip into civil war.

Fears of civil war? There is no need for fear. The civil war is on.

Hospital officials said the bodies of two security men loyal to Abbas's Fatah had also been dumped in a street.

Fatah sources said the men were abducted hours earlier by a Hamas-led police unit and "executed." A Hamas police spokesman denied the force had abducted or killed anyone.

Internal Palestinian fighting, the worst in a decade, has escalated since Abbas called for early elections on Saturday in an attempt to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government. Hamas has accused Abbas of launching a "coup."

Both Hamas and Fatah blamed each other for the sudden surge in street fighting in central Gaza City, where gunmen fought running battles with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

Civilians fled for their safety and some shops closed. In between bouts of fighting, masked gunmen roamed the streets.

Such a charming people.

Update: 19 Dec'06 1934z

Hamas is at it again:

Several Fatah members were kidnapped by Hamas operatives on Tuesday afternoon in the northern Gaza Strip, particularly in the area of the Jebalya refugee camp, Palestinian sources reported.

Eyewitnesses said that the abductees numbered between three and five.

Coincidently Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh has a word on the on the subject:

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday called for an end to Palestinian in-fighting and urged warring factions to unite in the struggle against Israel.

"This nation, this people will be united in front of the occupation and aggression and will not be engaged, despite the wounds of the past few days, in internal fighting," Haniyeh said in a televised speech.

I'm sure he believes it too. Or acts like he does on television.

Update: 19 Dec'06 2058z

Well what do you know. Another cease fire appears to be in the offing.

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said a deal was reached between his
Fatah faction and Hamas to halt fierce clashes in the
Gaza Strip in which six fighters were killed on Tuesday.

"We bless and support this agreement. After one hour, it will take effect," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We hope all will abide by this agreement."

Hamas and Fatah security chiefs earlier appeared side by side in Gaza City to declare that Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas had agreed to withdraw their forces from the streets starting at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT).

A previous ceasefire deal broke down within 24 hours and it was unclear whether this one would hold.

Tuesday's death toll was the highest since internal fighting intensified over the weekend. Four of the six were killed in street battles. The bodies of two of Abbas's surity men were found dead hours after their abduction, hospital officials said.

So that means the cease fire is now in effect. I'm betting that it will last less than 12 hours.

The Jerusalem Post has more.

Six Palestinians were killed and dozens injured as the cease-fire between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip collapsed Tuesday, less than 48 hours after it went into effect.

Another cease-fire agreement was announced late Tuesday, this time under the auspices of Egyptian mediators. According to the new deal, Hamas and Fatah agreed to withdraw all their gunmen from the streets and to release all those who were kidnapped from both sides. The new cease-fire is to take effect at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called off a planned visit to the Gaza Strip because of the renewed clashes, his aides told The Jerusalem Post. Both Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called on the warring parties to halt the fighting immediately.

Since neither of these fellows controls the "armed wing" I'm pretty sure they will be back at it very soon.

Update: 20 Dec'06 0158z

Palestinians fear their nice little homeland is becoming like Iraq. I can see the parallels. Iraqis and Palestinians are doing it to themselves.

...Abu Sa'deh expressed fear that the "mini-war" between Fatah and Hamas would deteriorate into an all-out confrontation. "The fighting in the streets reminds us of the civil war in Lebanon during the '70s and '80s," he said in a telephone interview.

"Many people are wondering why the Palestinians create trouble wherever they go. In Jordan, the PLO almost sparked civil war in the early '70s. Then they went to Lebanon and triggered civil war."

A man who understands his own people and is willing to talk. How rare.

"These people have no respect for holy sites or hospitals," said Ashraf Udwan, who lives in an apartment near the scene of the clashes. "This is a real tragedy for the Palestinians. The reputation of the Palestinian people has been severely harmed in the eyes of the world. How will we ever be able to ask the world to support our just cause when we are killing each other mercilessly?"

I guess killing Jew was just a warm up for killing each other. Cute.

"Nothing justifies this ruthless war," said bookstore owner Khaled Shaker. "Most people here are disappointed with Hamas and Fatah. This war plays into the hands of Israel, whose leaders must be laughing at us now. We demand an end to the fighting before Palestine becomes a second Iraq."

i.e. just another Arab nation. Held together or blown apart by vicious armed force.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 1

This is my first update on the subject since Saturday, December 16th and so much has happened.

A 19 year old woman was killed in the Gaza City battles between Hamas and Fatah.

Some one is lobbing mortar shells at the offices of Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. They missed. I'd say their training was inadequate. Here is what seems to be a more complete report of the attack. H/T reader Paul.

Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has a plan to get out of the fighting between the various factions. No mentions were made in the article of possible places of asylum or Swiss bank accounts. So maybe he has a plan to end the fighting. Or maybe not.

A French journalist was wounded in the cross fire of a fight between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza.

A cease fire is declared between Hamas and Fatah.

There was a gun battle outside the home of Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan less than an hour after a cease fire was declared. It must have been similar to the cease fires with the Israelis. Honored in the breech.

The brother of a Fatah member of the Palestinian Parliament was kidnapped. I'm betting this was part of a Hamas lobbying operation intended to influence legislation. Some hard lobbying that.

I guess the truce is officially over now that a Fatah supporter has been killed. He was killed in Jabalya in a clash between Fatah and Hamas. Five others were wounded. I suppose they didn't get the cease fire memo. Some one had better find out fast who screwed up the paperwork.

And finally (for now) a bit of good news (I think). A kidnapped Fatah official has been released.

Hamas officials reported Monday that Sufyan Abu Zaidah, a top Fatah official and former PA Minister for Prisoners Affairs, kidnapped earlier Monday, had been released.

Fatah spokesman said Abu Zaidah was kidnapped in Jabalya and transfered to Beit Lahiya. Abu Zaidah's son, Basel, said the kidnappers seized his father while he was on his way to visit a family of a Fatah activist who was shot by Hamas members.

The Hamas have not claimed any responsibility for the kidnapping, although Fatah believe Hamas operatives were the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, negotiations were underway to secure the release of ten more kidnapped officials.

I'm guessing that the ten kidnapped must include the brother of the Palestinian legislator mentioned earlier.

It is nice to see the Palestinians keeping busy. They are less likely to bother the Israelis. It is also nice to see them using their favorite tactics (kidnapping, murder, mayhem , and false cease fires) on each other.

Update: 19 Dec'06 0206z

It looks like kidnapping, murder, mayhem , and false cease fires are not the only anti-Israeli tacics they are practicing on each other. Now they have added prisoner exchanges.

That didn't take long. Shortly after the prisoner exchange violence has resumed

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to travel to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for the first time since the outbreak of the latest cycle of violence in the Palestinian territories, PA officials said on Monday.

"Cycle of violence"? Quick, some one tell Charles Johnson.

Well, on to the heart of the matter.

Despite the cease-fire, sporadic violence was reported in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Fatah leaders continue to trade accusations over responsibility for the latest flare-ups.

PA security sources said a Fatah activist was killed in the northern Gaza Strip during a shootout with Hamas gunmen. Another eight people were wounded during the clashes.

That may be a report of some earlier violence, hard to tell. It could also be something new.

"Hamas wants the calm to continue," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas in the Strip. "We also want to see all the weapons removed from the streets because this is in the interest of the Palestinian people. The security chaos and assassinations only serve the interests of Israel."

Barhoum also said Hamas was ready to resume talks with Abbas over the formation of a Palestinian unity government.

He wants the calm to continue. I wonder what he would consider aggitation?

Resume talks about national unity? I can just guess Abbas' response. "Who do they think they are negotiating with? The Israelis?"

Update: 19 Dec'06 0543z

The hits just keep coming.

A Palestinian was killed and four others wounded in renewed clashes in Gaza overnight Monday, Palestinian sources reported.

According to the report, the fighting took place between gunmen from Hamas' elite forces and security officers from the PA intelligence establishment.

It is now Tuesday morning in Israel (almost 8 AM local time). Israel is GMT plus two. GMT is the time zone I use for this blog - check my sidebar for a GMT clock, scroll down.

Reuters has a bit more definition in its report.

GAZA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A gunbattle erupted between Palestinian police loyal to Hamas and Fatah fighters at the main hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding several, witnesses and members of the rival factions said.

They said the gunbattle occurred at the entrance and inside the compound of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, but could not say what triggered the fighting.

The person killed was reported to be from the Hamas side.

Well at least the wounded didn't have to go far to get hospital care.

I expect more reports on renewing the cease fire and the immanence of a unity government. However, there is only so much lipstick you can put on a pig before people notice it is a pig with too much lipstick.

Palestinian Civil War Watch - 0

For those who have been following the past few days I have been covering the ongoing escalation of the Palestinian Civil War. I'm going to continue doiing so. Which is why this is post 0 (zero) in the series. I'm a computer geek (bare metal version) so I start my numbering scheme with zero. Now to the meat:

Abu Mazen (his war name) wants peace with Israel and new elections in the hope of ousting Hamas.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced new presidential and parliament elections to end an increasingly violent standoff with Hamas - a huge gamble that could strengthen the Islamic group, drive his people into civil war and further put off peace talks with Israel.

Hamas accused Abbas of trying to topple its government in an illegal maneuver, vowed elections would not be held and urged its supporters to take to the streets in protest. "This is a real coup," said Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas hard-liner.

Later Saturday, in Gaza, thousands of Hamas supporters marched in protest and 18 Palestinians were wounded in clashes between the two political camps.

Hamas' landslide election in January parliamentary elections split the Palestinian leadership into two camps: One, led by Abbas, who seeks peace with Israel, the other, led by Hamas sworn to the Jewish state's destruction. The infighting has often degenerated into convulsions of violence, and this week, tensions hit their highest peak in years.

Abbas attempted to end the power struggle by bringing Hamas into a more moderate coalition with his Fatah Party, but the Islamic group wasn't willing to pay the price he demanded - recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.

The main difference between Hamas and Fatah is that Hamas is of the opinion that Israel can be destroyed soon by military means. Fatah thinks that the time is not yet right.

Since the world would rather put off trouble than face it, Abu Mazen is getting a lot of diplomatic support and the US is considering sending arms and money to Fatah.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Reuters in an interview on Friday that the Bush administration is planning to ask the U.S. Congress for tens of millions of dollars to strengthen Abbas's security forces.

State Department officials have been discussing the request in recent weeks with key staff on Capitol Hill, trying to convince them the money will not reach Hamas.

Mean while Fatah is ecstatic, for now.

"I think today Abu Mazen made history," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide. "I think he saved his people from the prospect of civil war... We have a crisis. We have an authority with two heads. So what do we do? Bullets or ballots? Abu Mazen said ballots."

There appears to be a strong disagreement about the bullets or ballots question. I'm betting on bullets.

In his address, Abbas blamed the ruling militant group for the spiraling crisis in the Palestinian territories.

He said Hamas had refused to meet international demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence, which had led to crippling Western sanctions and internal political deadlock.

Abbas said that the Palestinians needed a government that could end the international aid boycott.

"Do I need a government for entertainment? I need a government that can lift the siege," he said.

Civil war as entertainment? It has happened before. As to the siege on Hamas, like all sieges they start out slowly and make little impression on the defenders at first. However, as time goes on the pain increases and the rate of pain increases accelerates. If Hamas can't get the money flowing, expect that in time the population will rise in revolt. It won't just be Hamas vs Fatah any more.

The Sharon Plan

The exit from Gaza has been excellent for Israel from a PR standpoint. The media can no longer portray what is happening there as a fight against occupation.

It is now the Palis attacking Israel across a border.

This is very good.

There will no longer be any settlers once the West Bank is similarly cleared. However, that need not happen any time soon (years, maybe decades) as the benefits from Gaza PR will to some extent carry over into the territories.

So many Israelis have said the exit from Gaza was a mistake. I always thought it was a brilliant move. It changed the rules of engagement in the international press. And getting the Palis to elect Hamas, priceless.

It is like chess. You may have to take temporary losses for permanent gains. I always thought Sharon was an excellent general. When he first announced the Gaza withdrawal I was standing on my chair clapping. The Pali civil war. The change in the tone of the press. The change of the rules of engagement. They were all things I expected. Sharon is brilliant for seeing that before any one else. A strategy so brilliant that it could be executed in plain sight and the enemy could not defeat or deviate from the plan. A plan so brilliant that once set in motion the planner was no longer needed for guidance. One of the greatest generals of all time.

Sharon saw so clearly what every one else missed. You cannot defeat an occupied people. You can defeat a soverign state. He also saw clearly that what the Palistinians needed most was defeat. To lose hope.

BTW here was my prediction last year around the time of the Gaza withdrawal.

Operation Summmer Storms with links to up to the minute news.

This post inspired by the discussion at Israelly Cool.

Update: 30 June '06 0147z
An Israeli comentator agrees with me.

Technorati:
Israel, Shalit, Olmert, Palistinians, Middle East, Hamas, Middle East Rules, Lebanese Rules, Ariel Sharon

The Sharon Plan: My Take

I read a very interesting novel in thr Dorsai series by Gordon Dickson about a battle fought passively by women, children, and old folks.

The plan of the battle was to oppose the troops garrisoning the conqered planet by poisoning them. The poison was nickel monoxide if I recall correctly. Its properties were that is an odorless tasteless gas that destroys the lungs. All the citizens who wished to avoid the poisoning left for the hills. A remnant stayed. The old, the sick, and the seriously disabled. When the natives started getting sick at the same time as the troops in the garrison the problem was thought to be a germ or virus. A natural disaster rather than an attack. Some of the citizens chose to die to defeat the enemy. It was a great read. Unfortunately I don't remember the title. Perhaps some one can enlighten me.

In a way I think that is what Sharon is doing.

War today is what it has been since the invention of communications. Media war. As the media gets faster what happens on the battle field is less and less decisive. Vietnamese General Giap was forced to admit that the North never won a major battle against the Americans. However, he said that in the end it didn't matter. The center of gravity of American power was not its army but public opinion.That is where the war was won.

My belief is that Sharon is willing to sacrifice the lives of some Israelis for a strategic advantage in the field of battle that means the most in this war: world public opinion. To fight and strike a serious blow to the terrorists Israel must have public opinion on its side.Why? Because Israel, with very few natural resources, is a trading country. It needs at least somewhat favorable world public opinion to prosper.

I fully believe that in the short term the pull out from Gaza will be a disaster. The Palis will not be able to restrain themselves. Innocents will be killed. There will be at least two major gains from the withdrawal. First, militarily the gloves can come off. Second, the Pali civil war for control of Gaza will intensify.

Long term a Pali civil war would be most advantageous. It will weaken Pali offensive power and discredit them further in world public opinion.

To gain this Sharon must risk the lives of thousands of Israelis. A sad day. A very sad day indeed. If Sharon has any heart it must be breaking. Mine is. And yet I belive thre General has made the right choice. It sucks.

=============================

Here is some corroboration:

The disorders of this week in and around the Gaza Strip make talk of truce and Israeli pull-backs sound surreal.

From Thursday, July 14, Palestinian terrorists have kept up a steady missile and mortar bombardment of Sderot and the moshavim and kibbutzim of southwestern Israel while challenging Palestinian security forces in bloody clashes. The violence surged with the arrival in Gaza of Mahmoud Abbas for a hopeless effort to assert control and revive the shattered truce he guaranteed last February in Sharm al Sheikh.

via WarTrash

Update: 10:54z 16 July 2005

Casualties in Gaza violence: 2 teens

Palestinian security forces and Hamas members exchanged fire in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood on Friday, leaving a 17-year-old boy and a 13-year-old dead and wounding 25 people - including six policemen.

It was not clear whether Hamas gunmen were also hurt in the clash. Hamas members were not expected to take their activists to hospitals, for fear of arrest.

Friday's clashes erupted in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, after security forces searched for militants suspected of firing rockets at Israeli targets. Hamas members torched a police station, and set a police armored personnel carrier and three jeeps on fire.

Hoots links and adds some interesting points.