Gaza is burning with a civil war between Fatah and Hamas militias. Tens are killed everyday. The small clashes have turned into gun fights between hundreds of people, an assassination attempt of the Palestinian PM Ismail Hania (Hamas) and very cruel cases, such as the Hamas gang throwing a Fatah member from tops of high rise buildings.
Of course, it could be worse. This war didn’t spread to the West Bank, where Israel holds a major portion of the land. The unity government that includes politicians from all parties hasn’t fallen apart yet.
But things are bad enough. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has already called it a coup.
I’ve already mentioned that the fighting is bad for Israel. Not only did the situation deteriorate, but the wrong side is winning. A full takeover by Hamas means that there is absolutely no partner on the other side. The extremely sick peace process will officially die for many years.
So what can we do? At this point, nothing. Interference in this war, supporting Fatah, could deeply hurt Hamas’ military power, but would give Fatah a stamp as a cooperator with the enemy, making Hamas the only choice for most Palestinians.
I’m sure that we could do better in the past, by making the occupation softer, allowing the moderate Fatah side to show achievements for the Palestinians , thus making it stronger. We could also be more serious in peace negotiations. Israeli governments complained that there is no partner on the other side. Too many times, there was no partner on our side.
I think that only international intervention can save the day. But, I don’t see the international community doing anything to solve this bloody crisis. Gaza is not Lebanon. Palestinians are hated everywhere.
So, the situation is desperate.
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