Violence in Gaza between the two factions, which nominally share power in the Palestinian government, has rapidly spiraled toward all-out civil war, with more than 50 reported killed since Monday. Hamas has systematically taken control of security positions in the north and south, apparently leaving the main battle for the strip's security and political nerve center in Gaza City for last.
An announcer on a Hamas radio station said the offensive would proceed to the presidential compound and the national security headquarters in Gaza City.
Hamas demanded Fatah-allied security forces in the north relinquish their weapons by 7 p.m. (noon EDT) Friday, or risk having them taken by force. The ultimatum was delivered in text messages and radio announcements.
The Hamas fighters are clearly better motivated than the much larger Fatah forces. Absent help from Israel, Hamas will win this war in Gaza if it keeps going.
This fighting has not spread to the West Bank, for the most part:
The fighting spilled into the Fatah-dominated West Bank. Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire in the city of Nablus and a nearby refugee camp after Fatah gunmen tried to storm a pro-Hamas TV production company. Hamas said 12 of its fighters were wounded.If Hamas does overrun all of Fatah's positions in Gaza, I'd expect more of this. I think Fatah would want to reply by striking back where they are stronger in the West Bank.
How long will it take for Fatah to decide that it is not worth fighting Hamas for that lost cause of contesting Gaza and focus on retaining control of the West Bank? Like I've said, given the eagerness of so many in the West to split Iraq (an error, I believe), why not go for the three-state soluton for the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River?
That might be what happens anyway. Israel, the Gaza Authority, and the rump Palestinian Authority on the West Bank.
UPDATE:
Hamas is pretty much mopping up Fatah resistance. And getting ugly about it:
After the rout at the security headquarters, some of the Hamas fighters kneeled outside, touching their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Others led Fatah gunmen out of the building, some shirtless or in their underwear, holding their arms in the air. Several of the Fatah men flinched as the crack of gunfire split the air.
A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed as their wives and children watched.
"They are executing them one by one," said Amjad, who lives in a building that overlooks the Preventive Security complex. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting," he said by telephone.
The killers ignored appeals from residents to spare the men's lives, said Amjad, who declined to give his full name, fearing reprisal.
Preventive Security is an especially despised target of Hamas because the agency carried out bloody crackdowns against the Islamic group in the 1990s.
Yep. Executions. First they came for the Jews ...
As for the triage aspect:
Fatah has asked Israeli permission to bring in more arms and armored vehicles, but Tzahi Hanegbi, chairman of the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio that arming Fatah would be "insane" because the weapons would fall into Hamas hands.
He said Israel was considering backing Fatah forces in the West Bank, but did not elaborate.
Gaza might be about to become a free fire zone for Israel. With Fatah out of the way and Hamas in bed with Iran, Arab governments are not likely to be too critical of Israeli direct action against Gaza. It's all rather clarifying.
UPDATE: Abbas rather obviously dissolved the "unity" government and Fatah is starting to stir in the West Bank:
Fearful that Hamas' momentum could spread to the West Bank, Fatah went on the offensive there, rounding up three dozen Hamas fighters. Angry militants threw office furniture out a third-story window of the Palestinian parliament building in Ramallah, then set fire to the office of three Hamas lawmakers. A Hamas activist was shot and killed in Nablus, the first person to be killed in the West Bank after days of violence in Gaza; the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, claimed responsibility.
There really are three states there.
