Two interesting developments may offer a solution to the hitherto intractable problem of Gaza and its Palestinian residents.
First, Israel is reportedly arming "anti-Hamas militias".
According to Israeli news outlet Ynet, “one group is active in Gaza City, and the other in Khan Yunis” – where the Israeli military is currently present.
Ynet had previously reported, citing sources affiliated with the Palestinian Authority (PA), that “new Fatah-aligned militias would soon begin operations in the strip.” The same sources told the outlet this week that “these are the very groups now coordinating directly with the IDF,” with both receiving salaries from the PA [Palestinian Authority].
. . .
One of the groups is based in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood – an area known historically as a hotbed of resistance, where Israeli forces are currently preparing to escalate operations. This faction is reportedly linked to Rami Halles, an anti-Hamas activist in Gaza linked to the PA Fatah party.
The Halles clan has had bad blood with Hamas since the resistance movement’s takeover of Gaza years ago.
“Halles and his men are heavily armed and are now receiving Israeli protection and operational cover,” sources cited by Ynet say.
The second militia, based in the southern city of Khan Yunis, is said to be led by a man named Yasser Hnaidek, who “is receiving Israeli aid – both in weapons and humanitarian supplies – as well as a salary from the PA.” He also hails from a Fatah-linked family in Gaza, according to what has been circulating.
. . .
The Ynet report follows recent information about an Israeli-backed gang operating in the southernmost city of Rafah – led by the Fatah-linked Yasser Abu Shabab, also allegedly linked to ISIS.
There's more at the link.
I don't know why some people are surprised by that news. One of the oldest and most sacred (?) tenets of life in the Middle East is that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". I think Israel is following that principle very closely. Furthermore, the "Fatah-aligned" aspect of the militias is interesting, because Fatah is the biggest faction in the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank but was expelled from Gaza (amid much bloodshed) by Hamas years ago. Fatah might be more than willing to help Israel by joining forces with it to sponsor anti-Hamas militias. See the principle quoted above for the reason . . .
The second bit of news is that traditional Arab leadership may be resurgent in another Palestinian region.
A group of five leading sheikhs in the Palestinian Authority’s Hebron district sent a letter to the government expressing a desire to join the Abraham Accords and to have peace with Israel, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The letter, addressed to Economy Minister Nir Barkat, expresses the sheikhs’ desire to break off from the Palestinian Authority and establish Hebron as an emirate that “recognize[s] the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.”
Then, “the State of Israel shall recognize the Emirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District.”
Again, more at the link.
Hebron is part of the West Bank, not Gaza. If it "defects" to an independent arrangement with Israel, this will undermine the Palestinian Authority itself, as well as offering an interesting example to other regions with their own authority structures. Furthermore, it would offer a counterweight to the so-called "two-state solution" that's been touted for so long as the only possible solution to the Palestinian problem. If Palestinian regions are divided into self-ruling "statelets" or Emirates or whatever they want to call themselves, there will no longer be just two Palestinian regions - and none of the smaller entities will want to give up their own authority (and lucrative rake-offs) to ally with others.
If Hamas won't make peace, Israel will be more than happy to make sure Hamas has nothing and nobody left over which to rule.
Peter
11 comments:
This is just like the US government arming bin Laden and the Afghan mujahadeen against the Russians. It will end the same way. Hamas or not, Islamists are fixated on the extermination of Jews and the murder or enslavement of all non-muslims. So these "good Gazans" will not give up their weapons after Hamas goes away. They will turn on their Israeli benefactors and become the new Hamas. In fact, it would make sense for Hamas members to join these groups so that it looks like the original Hamas is gone. Just like here, the corrupt operatives of ACORN formed and joined new NGOs that continued the same grift and election fraud under a new name.
yeah. I was about to say the same thing. this is not going to end well. chances are they will end up being a bigger problem than Hamas is now.
duh. we done the same dumbass thing ourselves a few times already.
you would think that we would learn by now, but that does not seem to be the case
Nailed it.
1. I agree with Contrarian View. These people have employed this tactic many times over the years and still they find fools who believe them.
2. I might use The Cradle to train a puppy
“Our golem has turned on us! We need a new golem to take care of the old golem!”
This is Israel. I doubt they have the same caliber of idiots running their foreign policy (legislature included) as we do.
I think I prefer the Schlock Mercenary Maxim: The enemy of my enemy is just another enemy.
Gaza was educational to Arabs in the West Bank, in the same way Hiroshima and Nagasaki induced the Japanese to add the word "surrender" to their lexicon.
The pity is that Israel waited 20 years to employ the lesson.
People like to forget that over 20% of Israel is Arab, and Arabs hold seats in the Knesset. Some Arabs have realized that Random Jihadi Syndrome is a dead end. Literally. They also like running water, flush toilets, air conditioning, and color TV, as opposed to living in rubble and eating feces and napalm 24/7/365.
Hmm, part of me wonders if "coordinating directly with the IDF" is short for a team of Mossad agents handing out "new cell phones" and telling these guys "Keep this with you at all times or we wont be able to warn you if Hamas is on to you."
Yep
Israel:
"Hey, you know how we tried organizing and giving weapons and support to terrorists that one time to oppose the PLO, and got Hamas, and lots of death and horror?"
Everyone else:
"Yeah...? Wait..."
Israel:
"Well why don't we try something we've never done before and give weapons and support to terrorists to oppose Hamas? It's genius!"
Everyone else:
"For frick's sake!"
Yeah. Brilliant.
-WR
What Aesop said. There are significant numbers of muslims and Arabs (not always the same thing) in the IDF. Some of the best scouts that the IDF have are Beduin muslims because their culture is still a migratory culture.
The radical stupidity behind Hamas and Hezbollah have peeved off a lot of the people in the Palestinian Authority areas. Like the 5 Sheiks, there's a lot of resentment and quiet complaining regarding the militarization of everything in the PA.
The Palestinians are in the same place as Lebanon and Jordan and Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Places that historically wanted Israel wiped off the face of the Earth. Who now are firmly semi-uneasy allies through the Abraham Accords. But they are working with Israel rather than working against Israel.
Trump should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize just for that. But, no, the world hated Trump.
And now Trump has been nominated for the NPP by the Pakistan government for mediating the Indian-Pakistan war and by Israel for mediating the Iran-Israel war. What do you bet he doesn't get one for either mediation.
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