Philip's posts with tag: abbas
 By Ted Belman  Israel should release most of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by them as part of a plan. I say most because the worst ones, I.e. those with “blood on their hands”, must be kept to make a point, namely, that murderers must be held accountable.
So what’s the plan? But first, the context. In December ‘05 the PA set a date for holding elections. At first, Israel wanted to restrict Arab residents in Jerusalem from voting and wanted to prevent Hamas from contesting them. Rice prevailed upon Israel to reverse its position on both matters. The result of the internationally supervised election, was that Hamas won 74 of the 132 seats. Hamas then formed the government and Fatah refused to be part of a coalition government. This was bad news for the “peace process” because Hamas was adamantly against it. The US immediately started making plans to overthrow the Hamas government.
Vanity Fair just published The Gaza Bombshell After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. After Congress turned down Bush’s request for $86 million to finance this effort, Bush asked the Saudis, who instead brokered the Mecca Accords (Feb ‘07) in an attempt to bring Fatah and Hamas together. Rice was apoplectic. Hamas reacted to this attempted coup, by a coup of their own and took over Gaza in June ‘07. David Wurmser accuses the Bush administration of “engaging in a dirty war in an effort to provide a corrupt dictatorship with victory.” The botched plan has rendered the dream of Middle East peace more remote than ever, but what really galls neocons such as Wurmser is the hypocrisy it exposed. “There is a stunning disconnect between the president’s call for Middle East democracy and this policy,” he says. “It directly contradicts it.” The US immediately switched gears and began a Westbank first option. Gaza had 400 functioning factories and workshops at the start of 2007. By December, the intensified Israeli blockade had caused 90 percent of them to close. Seventy percent of Gaza’s population is now living on less than $2 a day. Israel, meanwhile, is no safer. The emergency pro-peace government called for in the secret Action Plan is now in office—but only in the West Bank. In Gaza, the exact thing both Israel and the U.S. Congress warned against came to pass when Hamas captured most of Fatah’s arms and ammunition—including the new Egyptian guns supplied under the covert U.S.-Arab aid program. Thus it was clear that the Roadmap was no longer workable so Rice and Livni agreed to change it by discussing final status issues before the end of terror, even if the resulting agreement was only a “shelf agreement”. Presumably, if such an agreement were arrived at, the US would then arrange for the international community to adopt it. But this plan too is not working out because no one wants to compromise. Thus the Annapolis initiative is over. Now, Michael Wise has suggested a plan. Israel should annex Judea and Samaria, hopefully with US approval, and relocate the prisoners to Gaza. Lest anyone claim that Israel would be pursuing ethnic cleansing, Israel should offer to accept an equal number of peaceful Gazans into Israel and give them Blue cards enabling them to work. Not only would Israel free itself of the responsibility for their care and feeding and of incessant demands that they be released, she would be giving notice to all would be terrorists in Judea and Samaria that they too will be relocated to Gaza. In order not to separate them from their families, the families should also be relocated to Gaza. Now that’s what I call deterrence. Rice is responsible for all the failed US initiatives in the conflict which I list here. - Rice demanded Israel abandon Rafah as part of the disengagement from Gaza. This was contained in the Rafah Agreement which she brokered. - Rice demanded that Hamas be allowed to contest the elections resulting in its victory. - Rice embraced Abbas as a great moderate and friend of the US. He has proved anything but. - Rice engineered the plan to have Dahlan, supported by the US, execute a military coup of the Hamas government resulting in the Hamas coup of Gaza. - Rice backed the plan to build up the Fatah forces with arms and munitions all of which were seized by Hamas. - Rice then promoted the coalition of moderates which went nowhere. - Rice also decided on the Annapolis Initiative that has produced only increased violence. - Rice demanded Olmert stop the Gaza operations which killed over 100 Gazan, most of whom were terrorists on the basis that she would arrange a ceasefire through Egypt. This too will fail. Some legacy. Rice has been an absolute and total disaster. America has run out of options. Bush should declare that the Palestinians haven’t met the preconditions for statehood as set out in his vision speech in 2002 and should abandon his support for a Palestinian state.
Ted Belman
Who is most to blame for Israel's troubles? You'll see there is also a link for pictures of Israel and other interesting things.
PS. Isn't it amazing, a day after Liebermann pulled out of the Olmert Coalition,
the police start investigating his family's business activities??
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 11, 2008, 10:00 AM (GMT+02:00) President George W. Bush gave Israel the nod for its long-delayed military operation against Hamas in the Gaza before he ended his 50-hour visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Friday, Jan. 11 – except that his provisos stop the Israeli military short of its objectives, namely stamping out the Palestinian missile campaign, halting smuggling and eradicating Hamas military stockpiles, as reported here by DEBKAfile’s military sources: 1. Israeli forces must limit their invasion to two or three strips abutting the Gaza-Israeli border of the 365 sq. km square Hamas-ruled territory on Israel’s southwestern border. Those sources identify those strips as the northern pocket of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and the fringes of the Jebalya camp; the southern areas east of Khan Younes up to the Sufa and Kerem Shalom crossings; and sections of the Philadelphi border strip with Egypt, up to and excluding the Mediterranean coast. Operationally, this means the Israeli army may push back the Qassam missile launching sites from the border and distance this harassment from the Israeli population, but may not destroy terrorist arms and missile caches and their means of production. Israel is also enabled to deal only partially with the smuggling system for the weapons, explosives, fighters and cash, which nourish the Gaza Strip’s Palestinian terrorist groups through Sinai. 2. The IDF must operate only in sparsely-populated areas and desist from actions that may cause extensive Palestinian civilian casualties. 3. The IDF will not capture the main cities, e.g. Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Younes. 4. After clearing captured areas of Hamas, Jihad Islami and other Palestinian terrorists, the Israeli army must pull out and hand the cleansed territory to the forces of the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Israel must enable the passage of those forces from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip and allow them to establish military bases for launching their offensives to recapture the entire Gaza Strip, thereby reversing Hamas’ success in forcing their retreat six months ago. Point 4 was tagged onto the list during the US president’s talks with Abbas in Ramallah Thursday, Jan. 10. The Palestinian leader proposed that Bush’s assent to an Israel counter-terror operation in the Gaza Strip be exploited for the IDF to prepare the ground for his Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority to regain its control of the lost territory. It was agreed between Bush, Abbas and Olmert, that the details of this plan be worked out after the US president returns home at the end of his Middle East tour. The Bush-Olmert understanding entrusted defense minister Ehud Barak with leading and charting the Gaza operation, determining its timeline and being responsible to Washington for the IDF not stepping out of the above preset boundaries. It will also be up to Barak to decide whether to pursue the objective in phased offensives. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the Olmert government’s acceptance of this plan has stirred outrage in the IDF high command, general staff, southern command and the security establishment. For the first time in its 60 years of independence, Israel’s national army is being pressed into service to capture a territory on behalf of a foreign entity. They ask by what authority did the prime minister and defense minister sign off on a plan which is an immoral distortion of the IDF’s longstanding mission. The notion that members of Israel’s people’s army, which is duty bound to defend the state, may be ordered to fight and lay down their lives in the service of the Palestinian Authority, presents every serviceman with an irreconcilable dilemma. It might be easier if they were permitted to eradicate the Palestinian missile threat and war machine, stock, lock and barrel. But this is ruled out by Bush. The IDF found it difficult enough to recover its equilibrium from the political task to forcibly evict Jewish communities from the Gaza Strip foisted on it by the Sharon-Olmert-Livni government in 2005. Today, Israeli policy-makers, the United States and the Palestinian Authority are contemplating saddling the soldiers with another political undertaking: to turn around the Fatah’s defeat in its internecine war with Hamas. Israeli generals and security chiefs caution the government against accepting this perilous and self-destructive adventure and point to its glaring flaws. Its very conception has distorted the peace process so that the burden of its success rests on the IDF’s shoulders. If a military campaign succeeds in gaining control of parts of Gaza on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, peace talks will resume with Abbas’ standing much enhanced. But if the results are mixed, like in the 2006 Lebanon War under Olmert’s direction, the Palestinian leader will drop Israel and the United States like hot coals, turn coat and seek an understanding with Hamas for a re-united front against Israel. Already, since the plan was floated, Israel-Palestinian talks have petered out and become irrelevant, while negotiations for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit have been put on ice. Hamas will on no account discuss terms for his release with a large-scale Israeli offensive hanging over Gaza. Another of the plan’s fundamental flaws is that the Palestinian Authority is in effect leaderless, rudderless and is bereft of the professional security strength for following up on the deal. The Bush-Olmert-Abbas plan would have the Israeli military pull their irons out of the fire when it is common knowledge that once inside Gaza, PA security forces will quickly disintegrate and be swallowed up by the far more resolute Hamas. It was therefore proposed in Bush’s talks in Ramallah and Jerusalem that the Israeli Air Force and artillery provide support for the Palestinian takeover of the Gaza Strip, a tactic the US army employs for local forces in Iraq. For the Israeli Defense Forces, this proposal is totally unacceptable. For one thing, the Palestinian Authority’s security services are riddled with wanted terrorists. Furthermore, Abbas and his elite officials are not considered representative by the bulk of the Palestinian people (who in Jan. 2006 voted Hamas into office). Neither are they trusted to execute complicated strategies. Finally, the Bush-Olmert policy of placing all their bets for a Middle East breakthrough on the inept Mahmoud Abbas condemns their plan to failure. At the dinner Olmert hosted in honor of the US president Thursday night, several ministers pointed out these hard facts to Bush and told him bluntly that he is gambling all his hopes for peace on a non-existent entity called the Palestinian Authority. The US president answered: “I agree. That really is a problem.”
| Scroll to Mr. Bush Reminds Him of His Historic Role by Hillel Fendel
January 8, '08 (IsraelNN.com) A historic document is planned to be submitted to visiting US President George Bush upon his arrival this week, calling upon him to choose to be remembered like Cyrus, and not like Nebuchadnezzar. The document, grandly transcribed on parchment and furled into a scroll, is addressed to the the "Leader of the West." It reminds President Bush to "declare to the world" that he will honor G-d's word and act "towards settling the Jewish People throughout their entire Land." The document was signed by three figures, including the world-renowned Torah scholar, philosopher, social critic and author Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, once termed by Time magazine as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar." Rabbi Chaim Richman, representing the Temple Mount movements, and Dr. Gadi Eshel of the New Jewish Congress are also signed upon the proclamation. |
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| Rabbi Steinsaltz signing the proclamation
The scroll is likely to be presented to Mr. Bush during his visit this week to Israel by a prominent political and social figure. Bush Can Choose His Historic Record
The impressive document includes a detailed reminder to Bush that he has the chance to help G-d's eternal word be fulfilled, and thus pave the way for world peace, or to take the opposite path. It begins by saying that Mr. Bush can "make a declaration, as did Cyrus, King of Persia... who, in the year 538 BCE, returned the exiled nations to their lands, recognized the full right of the Jewish people to reestablish their Holy Temple, the “house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7), and called upon them to return to their land." |  |
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| "And thus," the manifesto continues, "if you truly desire peace and benevolence, and you would be counted in the company of the truly righteous, we call upon you to declare to all the world: The Land of Israel was bequeathed to the nation of Israel by the Creator of the world. Neither could I, as a son of my faith, nor the Muslims according to their faith, ever take away even the slightest grain from the Eternal’s gift, which He gave to His people Israel, the eternal people." The Wrong of a Palestinian State
Bush is thus also bidden to declare, "I cannot simultaneously support the establishment of a foreign state for an alien nation in the Land of Israel, and I will not lend my hand to this wrong." The proclamation also takes a foreboding tone: "Or – Heaven forbid – you can choose the second option – to willfully aid in the destruction, under the guise of peace! You certainly know what the G-d of Israel did to Egypt and Assyria and to all Israel’s enemies from time immemorial: Do you imagine that you will be able to save yourself if you have come to implement a plan that intends to steal the land of “the people that survived the sword” (Jeremiah 31:1), and to cut off those who survived the Holocaust, to rob the land that was given to them by the Creator?" |
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| | "All of the peace treaties and initiatives which have been based upon the decisions of the government of Israel, indeed the entire Oslo process, and the ‘Disengagement,’ and the establishment of a terrorist state within the Land of Israel known as ‘Palestine’ – regrettably, all of these agreements are the result of a lack of sufficient faith in the Divine promises that the Lord made to the patriarchs of our nation, and all that is written in the Torah of Israel. "Understand this well: the nations of the world cannot excuse their actions and their decisions on account of the weakness of Israel and her government. G-d ordained that the role of the nations of the world is to strengthen the nation of Israel. This will benefit all humanity and bring about world peace, as the prophets have foretold. "Do you imagine you can escape from the struggles in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon, by offering up sacrifices of the Jews who are slaughtered daily by their enemies who speak of peace but live by the sword? Bring Pollard With You!
The document also includes a call for Bush to allow Jonathan Pollard to return home to Israel - either on the same plane to Israel as the President, or by "authoriz[ing] his immediate release while you are yet in Jerusalem, before you return to the United States. This will be a positive step that will build confidence." The first page of the manifesto to President Bush The document also provides a list of Biblical verses "for meditation" that "testify to the eternal promise and the inexorable link between the land of Israel and the Jewish people." The entire document is posted for viewing and reading on the TempleInstitute.org site.
Rabbi Dov Stein, secretary of the Sanhedrin, which is headed by Rabbi Steinsaltz, met on Monday morning with a public figure and presented him with the scroll, asking that he please submit it by hand to Mr. Bush during their upcoming meeting.
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by Baruch Gordon
January 8, '08
(IsraelNN.com) This week’s upcoming visit of U.S. President George Bush to Israel has awakened activists on Israel’s political right, many of whom have kept a low profile since the 2005 evacuation from Gush Katif and Northern Samaria settlements. On Monday afternoon at 2:30, Jerusalem's Paris Square, situated near the official residence of the Prime Minister, was renamed Jonathan Pollard Square by the Municipality of Jerusalem. Activists for Pollard placed large signs on Israeli buses and around the city, calling for President Bush to release his “Prisoner of War." On Tuesday afternoon at 2:00, the One Jerusalem organization will create a human chain surrounding the Old City, to proclaim that Ehud Olmert does not have a national mandate from the people to divide the Holy City. Later in the day, starting at 6:00 PM, a coalition of activist groups will gather in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa to declare that building in the settlements will continue in defiance of the Olmert/Bush freeze on further expansion. From there, groups will set out to establish new hilltop communities throughout Judea and Samaria. 
The coalition has collected donations from many countries and from 35 states in the USA. They have prepared the following poster for their ceremony tomorrow: Thank you poster from the Coalition to Build the Land of Israel
In addition to the “Bush, Read Your Bible!” poster produced by “Am K’Lavee,” an anonymous poster showing Olmert behind jail bars is being pasted on billboards around the city. An anonymous poster hung in Jerusalem
The poster which reads, “Not Even Bush Can Save You,” refers to the criminal investigations pending against Olmert, and the claim that President Bush is coming to Israel to give a boost to Olmert’s dismal public image and political instability. Nevertheless, the Almagor Terror Victims Association has announced a series of protest vigils outside the main locations where President Bush will hold meetings. They are planning to erect a gigantic poster, pictured below which shows President Bush as the founding father of “HAMAStine." Poster by Almagor Victims of Arab Terror organization
The Almagor organization has also produced a video clip “Hamastine,” which shows America establishing a Hamas terrorist haven in the Land of Israel, to the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner.” View the HAMAStine video clip above or by clicking here or DOWNLOAD the HAMAStine video clip. Another Bush protest poster was posted in a several Jerusalem neighborhoods but raised the ire of Jerusalemites who quickly tore it off the billboards. The poster is, however, being circulated over the internet and has been condemned by Israeli and American Jewish groups. Roundly condemned poster torn off Jerusalem's billboards
Mr. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, said that the poster is an "obscene depiction which is not only a violation of the truth, but of every sensibility, and is only counterproductive and insulting." He added, "If you have points to make that can be done intelligently with facts and discussion, do so, but not this kind of blasphemous poster." Baruch Marzel of the far right Hazit party said that the poster was "in bad taste." but added that it "expresses the sentiments of many Israelis who are appalled that a United States president would lend his hand to a plan to divide the holy city of Jerusalem."  Over ten thousand policemen and security forces will be stationed in Jerusalem during the Presidential visit to keep protestors and any possible security threats far away from US President Bush. Traffic in the city is expected to be paralyzed. All cars parked in the area of the King David Hotel, and along the routes of the Bush motorcade, will be towed away to the outskirts of the city. Click here to receive the INN free Daily Israel Report
Israel seeks approval for border patrols Published Jan. 5, 2008  RAFAH, Gaza, Jan. 5 (UPI)-- Israel requested U.S. approval to establish military outposts at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, reports in the Arab media say.
The al-Quds al-Arabi in London reported Saturday that Israeli issued letters to U.S. and European Union officials objecting to Egypt's decision to allow Palestinian refugees to cross the Egyptian border to the Gaza Strip without passing through Israeli checkpoints, Ynetnews said Saturday.
The Israelis also requested U.S. approval to retake the Rafah border crossing and asked that ultimate control over Rafah be placed in the hands of international observers.
Israeli fears militant Hamas members and others potentially harmful to Israeli interests may cross into the region unchecked. © 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form. Comment not4-peace (Philip) posted at UPI: Israel is supposed to be an independent, sovereign country, but here, like in many other cases, the approval of the USA is needed to act. It is said that the Oslo Peace Process has turned Israel into a dictatorship - Israel's liberal leaders doing what their international peace handlers want without approval of a majority of Israeli citizens. Arial Sharon made a big show of how the US was supporting his withdrawal from Gaza, that was a lie; they didn't really approve it to the extent that they were going to help pay for it. Now Olmert has the story that even Israel's friends say the land of Israel should be divided to form a Palestinian state. Some friend who would demand that Israel relinquish the little strategic depth she has to make room for a neighboring state that will, like Hamas run Gaza, not live side by side in peace with her - as the rhetoric goes.
| After meeting with Israeli, Egyptian and PA leaders for the past four days, U.S. Sec'y of State Rice hinted the Mideast summit will be postponed. 18 October 07 |  | | |
US Sec'y of State and PA
Chairman in Ramallah | (IsraelNN.com) Four days of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo has apparently convinced U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that it would be wise to postpone the much publicized upcoming Mideast summit, originally scheduled to be held November 26 in Annapolis. | | | Rice told reporters after meeting Wednesday with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that she would “continue to say that the summit will be held in the fall,” but that “there are two months in the fall, November and December.” No new date was given for the conference. The Secretary of State acknowledged that the obstacles to reaching any form of agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are daunting, a fact echoed by every leader in the region. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Rice at their meeting Tuesday in Cairo that he was willing to back the event. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned in a statement a day earlier, however: “Rushing into holding the meeting without an agreement over a substantive and positive document may damage opportunities to achieve a just peace.” U.S. State Department officials expressed equally pessimistic predictions Monday after Rice had met separately with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said bluntly in a news conference Wednesday that the summit would be a waste of time that would be “in no one’s interests” if Israel came unprepared to agree to hand over Judea, Samaria, Gaza and half of Jerusalem, to be established as the capital of a new PA state. He added that he and other PA officials “are not interested in participating in a conference that will not bear fruit.” Most of the region’s leaders have informed the Bush administration that little is likely to be accomplished at the summit other than more posturing, seeing as the Israeli and PA positions are still poles apart on most issues. Prime Minister Olmert has made numerous concessions and "goodwill gestures" to the PA in order to prop up Abbas’s government in the past few months, with little to show for it. Hundreds of thousands of shekels in tax monies collected on behalf of the PA, withheld after the Hamas terrorist organization took control of the government in 2006, were transferred to the Abbas government months ago as an initial gesture. Despite promises that none of the funds would be used to pay Hamas, money nonetheless found its way to Hamas employees’ pockets. Relaxation of security measures at IDF checkpoints around the country were met with claims of “not good enough.” The release of hundreds of PA terrorists being held in Israeli jails was met with similar contempt. Amnesty for hundreds more terrorists who were still at large, on condition they signed a document promising not to take up arms and return to their violent ways was also minimized. Many of those who were pardoned did not bother to fulfill their end of the deal and skipped the signatures and the commitment. Several of those have since been caught planning and attempting to carry out more terrorist attacks. Promises by Abbas to crack down on terrorism emanating from PA-controlled areas were only partially kept: while Abbas’s security forces allegedly did make an effort to reduce terrorism from Fatah-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria, they had lukewarm success But the commitments made by Abbas were broken repeatedly by Fatah-sponsored terrorists from the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades organization who were caught attempting to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians. The lack of Abbas’s ability or willingness to match Israel’s largesse in security risks taken in the hopes of making progress in talks has slowed down the Olmert government’s race toward the negotiation table, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the U.S. and others. “I want to stress that the summit is the first point in an ongoing process,” Rice told reporters. “There will be an international conference…but there [also] has to be a day after.” Public Security Minister Avi Dichter was equally skeptical about what could be accomplished at the summit, saying he had a problem with demands by the U.S. that Israel “show some creativity” in finding a way to reach an agreement with the PA. Speaking at Tel Aviv University, Dichter asked, “What does that mean? How many Palestinians were murdered because we didn’t vacate outposts, as opposed to how many Israelis were killed because the Palestinians didn’t fulfill their end of the agreements?” "Before Annapolis, if we go to Annapolis, it is important to give the Authority a boost and doff our hats for the efforts they will make, but we should take care to take off the hat without the head," he said. | | | PA Talk of Two States, TV Shows Only One 18 October 07 (IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) television this week showed its viewers a flag depicting the map of Israel with a visual display of the PA flag covering the entire country, according to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently stated that a proposed new Arab state would include Judea, Samaria and Gaza, leaving Israel with its 1949 Armistice Line as borders.
The PA also has promised for more than two years to end incitement against Israel, but a recent Fatah faction editorial shows a Muslim kneeling in prayer with an American bomber in the background. He prays, "Allah, scatter them. And turn their wives into widows. And turn their children into orphans." | | | October 15, '07 Fatah Threatens to Reunite With Hamas
(IsraelNN.com) Senior Fatah terrorists said Monday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas could decide to create another unity PA with Hamas. Abbas does not want to join forces with Hamas, they said, but is forced to do so due to his political weakness. The Fatah leaders blamed Israel for the situation, accusing Israel of weakening Abbas. While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has released hundreds of terrorist prisoners, pardoned hundreds more, and agreed to allow thousands of foreign Arabs into Judea and Samaria under a “family reunification” program in order to strengthen Abbas, sources in Fatah said the “gestures” were insufficient. They called on Israel to stop requisitioning land around Jerusalem for state use and to halt IDF anti-terrorist operations in Judea and Samaria. | |
| | U.S. Pressure on Israel for a Palestinian State Foreseen by Hillel Fendel | | As the US, Jordan, the PA and others prepare for a high-level Middle East summit in November, a squeeze on Israel to agree to a Palestinian state just kilometers from Tel Aviv is feared. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has met in recent days with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and with Jordan's King Abdullah, reportedly discussing plans for the upcoming Middle East summit. The summit is the brainchild of U.S. President George Bush, and is scheduled to be held three months from now. Some Israelis fear that it will mark the climax of a heavy series of pressures upon Israel to agree formally to the formation of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. "With a quiet and densely-packed timetable," writes IDF Col. (res.) Moti Yogev, "the US Administration is cooking up, together with Prime Minister Olmert and Abu Mazen, very fateful plans for the State of Israel. The US will apply very heavy pressure on Israel to agree to understandings that will form the basis of the declaration of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria within just two months." Yogev explains that the Bush Administration is working under the pressure of the 2008 elections. "By then," Yogev posits, "Bush plans to hit the Iranian nuclear infrastructures. This is why he is in such a rush to give the Palestinians and the moderate Moslem states fat weapons deals and a Palestinian state - in order to silence them in anticipation of the planned attack on Iran." "Bush has partners," Yogev continues, "Abu Mazen and Olmert, and the common denominator for all of them is their unpleasant political situation, which is prodding them to take steps they hope will improve their standing."
Shteinitz Opposes Summit
MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) told Arutz-7 this morning that the summit is something that must be strongly opposed: "This summit could well lead to a Palestinian state, with clear Hamas and Iranian influence, right on the doorstep of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ben Gurion International Airport. Even if it just serves as a small support for this idea, the summit is something that we must not allow."
Shteinitz served as head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the previous Knesset.
Though plans are proceeding apace for the summit to be held, several major stumbling blocks remain - including the refusal of Saudi Arabia to announce its participation, and the questionable status of Abu Mazen. Conflicting reports abound as to whether Hamas and Fatah are on the road to peace between them or to a resumption of hostilities. If the latter, then Abu Mazen could find himself a target of assassination; a statement by Hamas elements accuses him of "launching a war against Hamas together with the Zionist occupation forces."
In addition, a group of influential businessmen in the PA is considering starting a new party, which Abu Mazen said he "supports."
A Dangerous Israeli Commitment
Yogev says we must be very far from complacent, however: "[Israeli Cabinet ministers] are again working, trying to give between 70 and 90% of Judea and Samaria to the PA for a state. True, some say the present government does not have the political strength to pull it off. But what is now on the agenda is just a signature on a 'declaration of principles' for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Even if the implementation is put off, it will still be an international Israeli commitment, and this is very grave. In addition, if it is marketed as a way of saving Israel from the Iranian nuclear threat, it will be very hard to convince the average Israeli of the dangers of abandoning most of Judea and Samaria - despite what has happened in Gaza."
The only way to stop this, Yogev writes, is for the "nationalist, religious, Zionist camp to wake up, unite as one, and work together... We have the strength to declare firmly that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel, and that any thought of giving it to 'moderate' murderers is immoral and will not bring peace or security."
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 Column One: Don't worry, be happy!
Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 5, 2007 Any doubt that Hamas is an Iranian proxy was dispelled this week by a snippet on the Middle East Media Research Institute's blog. MEMRI reported: "An article in the Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq, circulated among the Revolutionary Guards, states that Fatah documents captured by Hamas have revealed that Egypt played a role in instigating the clashes which led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza. The article added that this is the second time Egypt has betrayed the Palestinians, the first being [the slain Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat's betrayal at the Camp David summit." So Hamas is sharing the treasure trove of intelligence it captured during its takeover of Gaza with Iran. In the greatest intelligence victory ever accomplished by a jihadist organization, Hamas (and Iran) now possess the files of all of the Palestinian security apparatuses, and the personal papers of Fatah leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan. Hamas sources claim that Fatah's abject surrender of the information should come as a surprise to no one. They brag that in the months leading up to their putsch, Fatah operatives were happy to sell them all the weapons and intelligence information they asked for. Iran's use of the Fatah files against Egypt demonstrates that the emergence of Hamastan in Gaza endangers not only Israel, but regional security as a whole. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, the US and Israel can all expect reports to surface that will, in the best case, cause them deep embarrassment. Their governments may be destabilized and their security operations may be compromised. No doubt this state of affairs was central in causing the Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians to all tell Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah chief Abbas not to clash with Hamas but to try to forge a new accord with it. And so Hamas's position improves by the day. On Sunday, just after Israel made its first payment of $120 million to Salaam Fayad's Fatah government, Fayad announced that the money will go to pay salaries of PA employees in Gaza. This tells us two things. First, it shatters the illusion of two distinct PAs - one that is bad and one that is good. By paying PA employees in Gaza, Fayad showed that from Fatah's perspective, there is only one PA, not two. Second, his move exposes as a lie Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's claim that the money was going only to Fatah. Indeed, it showed that Israel is funding Hamas. After all, if Fayad weren't using Israeli money to pay the Gazans, Hamas would have to pay them out of its own pocket. BBC reporter Alan Johnston's release on Wednesday was another win for Hamas. After Johnston's release, Britain's new Foreign Secretary David Miliband - whose mother, a Holocaust survivor, is a member of the radical anti-Zionist organization "Jews for Justice for Palestinians" and whose late father was a Communist - gushed over Hamas. Miliband said that Hamas leaders "denounced the hostage-takers and demanded Alan's release. I fully acknowledge the crucial role they have played in securing this happy outcome." In comments to Parliament, Miliband left the door wide open to the possibility of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government recognizing the Hamas government. Rather than chide the British for their embrace of a movement driven by barbaric hatred for Jews and bent on Islamic global domination, the Israeli government lavished praise on the British for successfully negotiating Johnston's release and tried to make nice with Hamas. Olmert coyly suggested, "As is known, Hamas members holding [IDF soldier Gilad Schalit] are - in effect - preventing the release of Palestinian prisoners as has been agreed upon." By thus framing the issue of Schalit's release, Olmert signaled to Hamas that Israel is interested in cutting a deal and has already accepted the Iranian-proxy's control over the outskirts of Ashkelon and Ashdod. Hamas has other new friends - al-Qaida for instance. While just last March al-Qaida was condemning its fellow Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization for signing the Mecca agreement with Fatah, in the al-Qaida video disseminated this week, the group's deputy commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, praised Hamas and called for Muslims to join the terror group. In his words, "We tell our brothers, the Hamas mujahadin, that we and the entire Muslim nation stand alongside you, but you must redress your [political] path. Muslims must join Hamas ranks and we will back them by facilitating the passage of weapons and supplies from neighboring countries." The Olmert government's refusal to take the Hamas-Iranian threat in Gaza seriously fits well with its overall refusal to forge any coherent policies for dealing with any of the mounting threats that Israel faces. Last week, the Syrians celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the "liberation" of Quneitra on the Golan Heights, which Israel ceded to Syria in the cease-fire agreement that ended the Yom Kippur War. In government ceremonies, ministers in Bashar Assad's government emphasized the dictator's commitment to "liberating" the Golan. It was also reported that in honor of the anniversary, the Syrians opened the Damascus-Quneitra road to civilian traffic for the first time since 1967. If true, it would appear that the Syrians are setting the stage for terrorist infiltration of the Golan Heights. Radio Damascus reported Wednesday that the Syrian regime views IDF exercises in the North as a threat. This announcement can only be seen as a Syrian bid to develop a pretext for starting a war against Israel. And what sort of war awaits us? A missile war. While the Olmert government argues over the relative merits of overhauling and upgrading the National Security Council, and bolsters our national security by appointing Ruhama Avraham - the woman of many hair colors and stylish outfits - to the cabinet, the main lesson of the Second Lebanon War is being systematically ignored. THE WAR showed that Israel's enemies' primary target is the home front. This understanding was supposed to propel the government to secure civilian population centers nationwide, since Syrian missiles are capable of hitting every square centimeter of the country. But one year later, not even Sderot has been reinforced and the bomb shelters in the North remain neglected. It took the Finance Ministry 11 months to release funds to purchase gas masks for the public even though it is well known that Syria has chemical weapons. Although Olmert said that for him the last war is but "a distant memory," in Lebanon it is living history. Hizbullah is rearming so massively that even the UN has taken notice. Last week, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon reported to the Security Council that the Syrian-Lebanese border has been completely breached and that shipments of Iranian and Syrian arms transit the country without the slightest difficulty. On Monday, outgoing Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh effectively told Israel Radio that the government is neglecting the security needs of Israel by starving the IDF of the funds necessary to adequately equip its forces and secure the home front ahead of a possible war with Hizbullah, Syria and Hamas. He also accused the government of mishandling the Iranian nuclear threat. Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz all lull the public into complacency by claiming that the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran are effective, and that Israel and the US are closely coordinating their policies on dealing with the Iranian nuclear weapons program. In his interview, Sneh called their bluff. Sneh argued that the sanctions have not prevented Iran from advancing its nuclear program and stated outright that "there is no coordination on the operational level between the Israeli and US militaries on Iran." Sneh added that the governmental underfunding has left the military bereft of good options for attacking Iran's nuclear installations on its own. On the other side, Teheran is mobilizing all of its resources for a war against the US and Israel. Risking its own destabilization, the regime instituted gasoline rationing last week. And this week President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran will soon begin rationing electricity. Intent on ignoring the dangers, Israel's government has opted to attack those who warn of them. Case in point is its treatment of former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton. Last week Bolton told The Jerusalem Post that the Bush administration's Iran policy has failed. In his words, "The current approach of the Europeans and Americans is not just doomed to failure, but dangerous. Diplomacy and sanctions have failed... So we have to look at: 1, overthrowing the regime and getting in a new one that won't pursue nuclear weapons; 2, a last-resort use of force." Bolton added that there might not be enough time to bring down the regime before the Iranians acquire nuclear weapons. Israeli officials, snug in their bubble, reacted to the interview by attacking Bolton. One official dismissed Bolton by calling him America's "Avigdor Lieberman." Another patronized, "It is possible that his comments were meant to expedite the process. We would all like to see more aggressive diplomacy." But as Sneh made clear, not only were Bolton's remarks accurate, but also, thanks to the Olmert government, Israel lacks the means to independently address the threat of its own annihilation, and has no military coordination on the matter with the US. To their credit, the ministers responsible for dealing with Iran are very busy with pressing concerns. Last week, Lieberman took a trip to Europe, where he tried to advance his idea of bringing Israel into the anti-Israel EU. And in light of UNIFIL's stunning accomplishments in preventing Hizbullah from rearming, Israel's "Strategic Affairs" minister also used his time to push his idea of deploying NATO forces to Gaza. On Wednesday, Livni met with her Moroccan counterpart. Livni praised Morocco for its participation in the Saudi Peace Plan that has been disavowed by the Saudis. Olmert the peacemaker concluded a peace accord this week between his cronies Ronnie Bar-On and Haim Ramon. He also negotiated a temporary cease-fire with his political rival Meir Sheetrit. Most critically, Olmert ensured Israel's long-term security by appointing Ruhama Avraham a minister-without-portfolio in his Lilliputian government. The local media organs, all of which moronically ignore the emerging threats, keep promising the public that the Olmert government will fall as soon as the Winograd Committee issues its final report on the Second Lebanon War, sometime in the next few months. But there is no guarantee that this is true. In the best case scenario, the report will merely tell us what has been clear for the past year: With or without a restructured National Security Council, our political leaders are incompetent boobs whose only concern is their personal political survival, regardless of the consequences for the nation's security. But really, why worry? After all, Shas is happy. Lieberman is satisfied. Olmert is rock solid. And Ruhama is moved to tears. Perhaps we should be crying, too.
 JPost.com » Opinion » Columnists »
Our World: Grounded in fantasy By CAROLINE GLICK Jun. 18, 2007 21:04 | Updated Jun. 19, 2007 Iran and its client state Syria have a strategic vision for the Middle East.They wish to take over Lebanon. They wish to destroy Israel. They wish to defeat the US in Iraq. They wish to drive the US and NATO from Afghanistan.They wish to dominate the region by driving the rest of the Arab world toits jihad-supporting knees. Then they wish to apply their vision to the rest of the world. Today, Syria and Iran are ardently advancing their strategic vision for the world through a deliberate strategy of victory by a thousand cuts. Last week's Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip; Sunday's reopening of the Lebanese front against Israel with the Syrian-ordered rocket attacks on Kiryat Shemona; the now five-week old Syrian ordered low-intensity warfare against Lebanon's pro-Western Siniora government; last week's attack on the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra; the recent intensification of terrorism in Afghanistan and Iran's move to further destabilize the country by violently deporting 100,000 Afghan refugees back to the war-torn country - all of these are moves to advance this clear Iranian-Syrian strategy. And all these moves have taken place against the backdrop of Syria's refashioning of its military in the image of Hizbullah on steroids and Iran's relentless, unopposed progress in its nuclear weapons program. For their part, both the US and Israel also have a strategic vision. Unfortunately, it is grounded in fantasy. WASHINGTON and Jerusalem wish to solve all the problems of the region and the world by establishing a Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. While Israel now faces Iranian proxies on two fronts, in their meeting at the White House today US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will gush about their support for Palestinian statehood. Creepily echoing LSD king Timothy Leary, they will tune out this reality as they drone on about the opportunities that Gaza's transformation into a base for global jihad afford to the notion that promoting the Fatah terrorist organization's control over Judea and Samaria can make the world a better, safer, happier place. Today Bush and Olmert will announce their full support for Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas's new government. The US will intensify General Keith Dayton's training and arming of Fatah forces. Israel will give Fatah $700 million. The Europeans and the rest of the international community will give the "moderate, secular" terror group still more money and guns and love. The US will likely also demand that Olmert order the IDF to give Fatah terrorists free reign in Judea and Samaria. Olmert and Bush claim that by backing Abbas militarily, financially andpolitically they will be setting up an "alternative Palestine" which will rival Hamas's jihadist Palestine. As this notion has it, envious of the goodfortune of their brethren in Judea and Samaria, Gazans will overthrow Hamas and the course will be set for peace - replete with the ethnic cleansing of Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem of all Jewish presence. FATAH FORCES barely raised a finger to prevent their defeat in Gaza in spite of the massive quantities of US arms they received and the military training they underwent at the hands of US General Keith Dayton. Bush, Olmert and all proponents of the notion of strengthening Fatah in Judea and Samaria refuse to answer one simple question: Why would a handover of Judea and Samaria to Abbas's Fatah produce a better outcome than Israel's 2005 handover of Gaza to Abbas's Fatah? They refuse to answer this question because they know full well that the answer is that there is absolutely no reason to believe that the outcome can be better. They know full well that since replacing Yasser Arafat as head of the PA in 2004, Abbas refused to take any effective action against Hamas. They know that he refused to take action to prevent Hamas's rise to power in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. They know that the guns the US transferred to Fatah in Gaza were surrendered to Hamas without a fight last week. They know that the billions of dollars of international and Israeli assistance to Fatah over the past 14 years never were used to advance the cause of peace. They know that that money was diverted into the pockets of Fatah strongmen and utilized to build terror militias in which Hamas members were invited to serve. They know that Fatah built a terror superstructure in Judea, Samaria and Gaza which enabled operational cooperation between Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror cells. SO WHY embrace the fantasy that things can be different now, in Judea and Samaria? Rather than provide rational arguments to defend their view that Hamas's takeover of Gaza is an opportunity for peace, proponents of peace fantasies as strategic wisdom explain vacuously that peace is the best alternative to jihad. They whine that those who point out that Israel now borders Iran in Lebanon and Gaza have nothing positive to say. To meet the growing threat in Gaza, they argue that Europeans, or maybe Egyptians and Jordanians can be deployed at the international border with Egypt to stem the weapons and terror personnel flow into Gaza. To meet the growing threat in Lebanon, Olmert pleads for more UN troops. Both views ignore the obvious: Gaza has been transformed into anIranian-sponsored base for global jihad because Egypt has allowed it to be so transformed. Assisted by its Syrian-sponsored Palestinian allies, Hizbullah has rebuilt its arsenals and reasserted its control in southern Lebanon because UN forces in southern Lebanon have done nothing to prevent it from doing so. No country on earth will volunteer to fight Hamas and its jihadist allies in Gaza. No government on earth will voluntarily deploy its forces to counter Hizbullah and Iran in south Lebanon. This is why - until they fled - European monitors at the Rafah terminal were a joke. This is why Spanish troops in UNIFIL devote their time in Lebanon to teaching villagers Spanish. SO WHY are Bush and Olmert set to embrace Fatah and Abbas today? Why are they abjectly refusing to come to terms with the strategic reality of the Iranian-Syrian onslaught? Why are they insisting that the establishment of a Palestinian state is their strategic goal and doing everything they can to pretend that their goal has not been repeatedly proven absurd? Well, why should they? As far as Bush is concerned, no American politician has ever paid a price for advancing the cause of peace processes that strengthen terrorists and hostile Arab states at Israel's expense. Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton had Arafat over to visit the White House more often than anyother foreign leader and ignored global jihad even when its forces bombed US embassies and warships. And today Clinton receives plaudits for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. By denying that the war against Israel is related to the war in Iraq; by ignoring the strategic links between all the Iranian and Syrian sponsored theaters of war, Bush views gambling with Israel's security as a win-win situation. He will be applauded as a champion of peace and if the chips go down on Israel, well, it won't be Americans being bombed. OLMERT LOOKS to his left and sees president-elect Shimon Peres. Peres, the architect of the Oslo process which placed Israel's national security in the hands ofthe PLO, has been rewarded for his role in imperiling his country by his similarly morally challenged political colleagues who just bestowed him with Israel's highest office. Olmert looks to his left and his sees incoming defense minister Ehud Barak. In 2000, then prime minister Barak withdrew Israeli forces from Lebanon, and enabled Iran's assertion of control over southern Lebanon through its Hizbullah proxy. In so doing, Barak set the conditions for last summer's war, and quite likely, for this summer's war. By offering Arafat Gaza, 95 percent of Judea and Samaria and half of Jerusalem at Camp David, Barak showed such enormous weakness that he all but invited the Palestinian terror war which Arafat began planning the day he rejected Barak's offer. For his failure, Barak has been rewarded by his Labor Party, which elected him its new chairman on the basis of his vast "experience," and by the media which has embraced him as a "professional" defense minister. Olmert looks to his right and he sees how the media portrays Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu and former IDF Chief of General Staff Moshe Ya'alon as alarmists for claiming that Israel cannot abide by an Iranian-proxy Hamas state on its border. He sees that Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu supported Peres's candidacy as president and have joined their fortunes to Olmert's in a bid to block elections which will bring the Right to power. ISRAEL HAS arguably never faced a more dangerous strategic environment than it faces today. Yet it is not without good options. It can retake control over the Gaza-Sinai border. It can renew its previously successful tactic of killing Hamas terrorists. It can continue its successful campaign of keeping terrorists down in Judea and Samaria, and it can continue preparing for war in the north. All of these options can be sold to the Left. But today both Bush and Olmert will reject these options in favor of mindless peace process prattle. They will reject reality as they uphold Abbas as a credible leader and shower him with praise, money and arms. Their political fortunes will be utmost in their minds as they do this. And they will be guaranteeing war that will claim the lives of an unknown number of Israeli civilians and soldiers. Bush and Olmert should know that when the time for reckoning comes they will not be able to claim, along with Peres and Barak that their hands did not shed this blood. Reality has warned them of their folly. But in their low, dishonest opportunism, they have chosen to ignore reality and amuse themselves with fantasies and photo-ops.
 GAMLA: NEWS AND VIEWS FROM ISRAEL
Volume 8 Issue 18 Jerusalem, Israel. June 15, 2007 Hamas Poised to Convert Captured Gaza Strip into Islamist Enclave
DEBKAfile 14 June: Hamas seizes control of strategic Philadelphi enclave on Egyptian border and all Gaza's border crossings with Egypt and Israel. At least 35 people died in the fighting Wednesday. Any international force in Gaza will be resisted in the same way as an Israeli occupation army, said a Hamas spokesman Thursday, June 14.
Senior Israeli officers described the Hamas victory to DEBKAfile as a greater misfortune for Israel than its Lebanon War setbacks. There, Hizballah was forced by Israeli military action to accept a UN ceasefire and international peacekeepers. Hamas has no such incentive. In the case of Gaza, the winner takes all and can dictate terms. A radical Islamic enclave with a dominant Iranian-Syrian military presence has sprung up unopposed as a hostile reality on Israel's southwestern border. It has made the Israeli-Middle East Quartet's boycott an irrelevance. The Hamas Executive Force completed the seizure of all pro-Fatah Presidential Guard border positions, including the Karni goods crossing and the Sufa, Kerem Shalom and Rafah transit points, after midnight Wednesday night, June 14. Their commander Col. Musbah Basichi and his 60 officers fled to Egypt. At least 35 Palestinians were killed in fighting Wednesday. Hamas pounced as Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert held a belated conversation with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the deployment of an international force on the Philadelphi route. Hamas leaders flushed with victory will hardly accept such hindrance to the free flow of smuggled arms, missiles and explosives into the Gaza Strip. Israeli military and security personnel administering the crossings on the Israeli side will have to work cheek by jowl with Hamas operators. The Israeli government, which decided to stay out of the Hamas-Fatah conflict, must now decide whether to break off ties with Hamas-controlled Gaza and seal the crossings, or interact with the new masters in order to admit emergency supplies for 1.4 million Gazans. 13 June: Overnight, thousands of Palestinian security officers loyal to Fatah were under Hamas siege at their last bastions - Gaza City's Presidential Guard compound and the General Security command. They are running out of food, water and ammunition. Hamas and its Executive Force had overrun some 80 percent of the Gaza Strip, while loyalists of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, including complete clans, surrendered and turned in their weapons. Hamas has set up large prisoner camps, some on the rubble of the Gush Katif villages. Wednesday afternoon, a desperate Abbas appealed to Israel to permit arms and ammunition to be transferred from the West Bank. Israeli officers said it was too late. Fatah is a lost case and any arms crossing into Gaza will be seized at once by Hamas. Israel decides to stay out of the Palestinian internecine war in Gaza. Prime minister Ehud Olmert led the cabinet in a decision Tuesday night, June 12, to avoid "fighting on the side of the pragmatists against the extremists." Olmert said an international force is worth considering for securing the Philadelphi border enclave of the Gaza Strip against further arms smuggling. DEBKAfile: This would replicate the situation in South Lebanon where UNIFIL troops have been helpless to halt illegal gunrunning to the Hizballah from Syria. The UN Security voiced concern over this traffic only Tuesday, June 12 12 June: DEBKAfile reported Hamas' seizure of Gaza's main south-north highway in fierce fighting with many casualties, most Fatah. By borrowing this Israeli tactic for bisecting the territory to contain terrorists, Hamas shut in Mahmoud Abbas's Presidential Guard, which has not yet been thrown into battle, and choked off ammunition re-supply routes to Fatah fighters. To tighten their control, Hamas units also commandeered high rise rooftops. Hamas then gave Fatah till Friday noon to surrender their arms or become wanted men under sentence of death. Abbas called the situation "madness." UNWRA has cut down its personnel in Gaza after two aid workers were killed. DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas' planning and combat tactics clearly betray the professional hands of Syrian and Hizballah officers who have set up a command center in the Gaza Strip. DEBKAfile's Military sources: Iran and Syria are the winners of Hamas military coup against Fatah in Gaza Strip It was the second triumph in a week for a Palestinian force backed by Iran and Syria, after the Lebanese army failed in four weeks' combat to crush the pro-Syrian factions' barricaded in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian camp near Tripoli. Tuesday, Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Palestinian Authority forces faced disaster. Their inevitable ejection from the Gaza Strip effectively severs Palestinian rule between Ramallah, where Fatah will have to fight to retain control of the West Bank and Gaza, dominated now by an Islamist Palestinian force manipulated from Tehran and Damascus. The Iran-Syrian alliance has acquired by brute force two Mediterranean coastal enclaves in northern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Its momentum, launched a month ago in both sectors was unchecked. The Fouad Siniora government's troops failed to break through to the Palestinian camp and crush the pro-Syrian uprising. The Olmert government stood by unmoved as the most radical elements in the Middle East snatched the Gaza Strip on Israel's southwestern border. The Bush administration is finding itself forced out of key Middle East positions, its main assets Siniora and Mahmoud Abbas trounced on the battlefield. Israel's technological feat of placing the Ofeq-7 surveillance satellite in orbit Monday quickly proved ineffective against the sort of tactics Tehran and Syria employ: mobile, suicidal Palestinian terrorists, heavily and cheaply armed with primitive weapons, who are winning the first round of the Summer 2007 war and preparing for the next. 11 June: DEBKAfile reported: The brutal civil strife has brought the fragile Hamas-Fatah unity government to closure. The War Crimes Prosecution Watch has condemned rival Palestinian factions fighting in Gaza for attacking civilians, prisoners and hospitals. Senior Palestinian politician Saab Erikat warned the "Mogadishu syndrome" is overtaking Palestinian Gaza. "If war and lawlessness are not extinguished, the fire will burn us all" The outcome generated by the civil war is the separation of Palestinian rule between Hamas-controlled Gaza and the Fatah-led West Bank. DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas threw its entire 5,000-strong Executive Force armed with mortars, RPGs, heavy machine guns and grenades into the final bid to conquer the Gaza Strip, whereas Fatah commanders' desperate appeals to Mahmoud Abbas for reinforcements drew nothing but a futile call for a ceasefire.
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Israel should release most of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by them as part of a plan. I say most because the worst ones, I.e. those with “blood on their hands”, must be kept to make a point, namely, that murderers must be held accountable.
