Palestinian Chaos Spreads

Will civil war erupt in Palestine? Hamas and Fatah are at each other's throats. Deaths are daily. One high ranking leader's assassination could spark a unstoppable conflagration. Again, this is a situation that Israel created by working to destroy the credibility of the Palestinian Authority, they strengthened the credibility of Hamas. The result could be a major set back for peace and a new front for Al Qaeda.
Newsweek

Fatah and Hamas are still engaged in talks to avert a civil war and reach an agreement on how to deal with Israel on terms that will satisfy the international community. Popular sentiment is behind that process, and many in Gaza believe that tribal and family ties will help prevent a full-blown conflagration. Khaled Abu Hilal, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, insists that "every family has members of both Fatah and Hamas." Yet Abu Hilal also keeps a 9mm Smith & Wesson in his desk drawer—just in case. And a Palestinian arms dealer in Ramallah, who wished to remain anonymous as he offered to sell NEWSWEEK an unsolicited MP5 submachine gun, says that the price of a U.S.-made M-16 on the black market has doubled, from $5,000 to $10,000, since Hamas took power. "Hamas is buying like crazy," the dealer says.


[...]By the time Gdeih finished telling his story to a NEWSWEEK reporter, a crowd of several dozen relatives had gathered to listen. A discussion broke out about Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, killed that morning in Iraq. The family patriarch, 58-year-old Abdullah Gdeih, denounced the Qaeda leader, criticizing the terrorist for killing fellow Muslims. But then a younger man poked his head into the room. Twenty-three-year-old Fadi Gdeih said he disagreed with the older man. "We need somebody like that here," Fadi said of Zarqawi. "Somebody who slits throats." There are some who think that a Hamas-led government is as bad as it gets. They might want to think again. MORE