Nice looking bunch, eh!
Posted on 04/15/2007 6:02:06 PM PDT by Knitting A Conundrum
Thank you, Bahbah!!
From this collection of headlines, “unrestricted civil war” might be a bit of an understatement.....
(Also, the Syrian sabre-rattling at Lebanon seems a bit ominous, given the timing, and all...)
Nice looking bunch, eh!
Fatah: Hamas seeking decisive victory in Gaza within hours
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/870095.html ^
Posted on 06/12/2007 8:56:39 AM CDT by jhpigott
Hamas, stepping up a rapidly expanding power struggle, Tuesday afternoon attacked installations of security forces allied to the rival Fatah movement across the Gaza Strip.
The violence, which erupted Monday morning after days of simmering tensions, has claimed 17 lives so far.
The Hamas forces captured several positions from Fatah, and threatened to step up the offensive. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah accused Hamas of staging a coup.
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Fatah sources said they believe Hamas is trying to achieve a decisive victory in the Gaza Strip within hours.
In the northern Gaza Strip, about 200 Hamas gunmen surrounded the one compound, where some 500 Fatah fighters were holed up. Hamas fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at the building.
“They are attacking from all sides,” said one of the officers, Khaled Awad.
Hamas earlier demanded that Fatah security forces abandon their positions, threatening to attack those who remained in their posts.
Colonel Nasser Khaldi, a Fatah commander in southern Gaza, confirmed his men were on the defensive.
Khaldi said Abbas must now give orders to fight back.
“There is a weakness of our leaders,” he said. “Hamas is just taking over our positions. There are no orders.”
In Khan Yunis, streets were deserted. A member of the Fatah-allied forces there said that Hamas had taken several smaller Fatah positions, but that the main compound holding three branches was still under Fatah control.
The officer said Hamas had taken over a building next to the compound.
“Our orders are to defend ourselves if they come, but not to attack,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848879/posts
Exerpt:
“For the first time Monday, Olmert held a meeting of the “Syria cabinet,” which was established last week and comprises 11 members of the security cabinet. The Syria cabinet heard intelligence assessments about Syria, its relations in the Arab world, its strategy, its military deployment on the Golan Heights, and the domestic and regional standing of Bashar Assad.
According to the reports, the Syrian army is busy improving its capabilities but its deployments are “defensive,” according to a senior political source in Jerusalem.
The meeting Monday focused on intelligence assessments. The IDF’s preparations on the Syrian front will be discussed at the Syria cabinet’s next meeting, which will take place after Olmert returns from a visit to Washington.
Political sources in Jerusalem stressed yesterday that Israel has no intention of seeking a broadening of UN activities on the Golan Heights. The mandate of UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) will be brought before the Security Council this month for a routine extension.”
Link: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/869817.html
Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza, and succeeded in taking over a number of them, Israel Radio reported.
Hamas-affiliated television said that the organization overtook the entire northern section of the Gaza Strip, the report stated.
Israel Radio also reported that a top Fatah military official sent a message to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stating that security forces were holding their ground, but calling on the Fatah leader to order an end to the current policy of restraint, allowing troops to return fire.
Ismail Haniyeh unscathed in RPG attack
Less then an hour after the attack, Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire.
In response to the Hamas assault, Fatah gunmen kidnapped a deputy Cabinet minister from Hamas on Tuesday.
The fate of Deputy Transportation Minister Faidi Shabaneh, 46, was not known. Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, said Shabaneh was not harmed, denying claims on Hamas Web sites that he had been killed by his captors.
Hamas said Shabaneh was seized by gunmen after he emerged from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
More: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570255159&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Piecing the fragmentary accounts together — looks like Hamas is winning, which puts Condi’s strategy of “Pick your favorite terrorist and back him with money and arms” is in serious jeopardy....
Mortar shells fired at Abbas’ office in Gaza
YNet ^ | June 12, 2007 | Ali Waked
Posted on 06/12/2007 9:20:34 AM CDT by Alouette
Chaos in Palestinian Authority reaches new peak: Hamas takes over Fatah bases, headquarters in all of northern Gaza Strip, conquers other wide parts of area. Palestinian president meets with Fatah leaders to discuss possibility of quitting unity government. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades calls on members to take to streets
Ali Waked and agencies Latest Update: 06.12.07, 16:41 / Israel News
A loud explosion was heard Tuesday afternoon near the office of Palestinian President Mamhoud Abbas and some of the Palestinian Authority’s security headquarters in Gaza City, Palestinian sources reported.
It later turned out that mortar shells were fired at Abbas office.
The Palestinian president plans to meet with senior Fatah members on Tuesday evening to discuss a possibility of quitting the unity government.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, announced a state of high alert among its members, and instructed all of its cells to take to the streets of Gaza and face Hamas members.
On Tuesday afternoon Hamas fighters captured several positions from the rival Fatah movement and threatened to step up the offensive after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of the Hamas prime minister.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused his Hamas rivals of staging a coup.
“All information points to a trend in which some of the political and military leaders of Hamas are planning a coup against the legitimate institutions, thinking they will be able to control the Gaza Strip by force,” Abbas’ office said in a statement.
There were no injuries in the early-morning attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home - the second in two days. But the attack underscored the increasingly ruthless nature of the fighting, which has killed 18 people in recent days. Exasperated Egyptian mediators said the bitter rivals turned down an appeal to meet for truce talks.
Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd al-Rahman said the organization’s central committee was reconsidering its part in the Palestinian unity government due to the violent clashes.
Hamas’ military wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, published a warning to Palestinian security officials affiliated with Fatah not to report for duty due to the infighting in Gaza.
The warning said that any security official seen in the streets would be “suspected of participating in the injury of the Palestinian people and may get hurt”.
Exchanges of fire between the rival factions continued, with witnesses reporting of an attack by Hamas gunmen on the home of Fatah’s spokesman in the Strip, Maher Miqdad. Two Hamas members were injured during the assault.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning three teenage girls belonging to the same family, as well as a 70-year-old woman, were killed in the infighting.
Palestinian sources later reported that Fatah gunmen shot and killed a Hamas member, raising the number of dead in clashes between the two parties since Monday to 18.
According to the reports, the man who was killed was identified as Amro Rantisi, the nephew of Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz Rantisi who was assassinated by the IDF in 2004.
Gun battles were also reported in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Earlier, Hamas gunmen stormed and seized control of a Fatah-affiliated mosque; the Islamist group has declared a heightened state of alert.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848895/posts
Jun. 12, 2007 9:18 | Updated Jun. 12, 2007 9:24
UN envoy: ME picture is ‘getting darker’
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen raised an “alarm” about the situation in the Middle East, warning that the region faces the possibilities of full-scale war, a fresh effort to contain the current violence, or energetic diplomacy to try to bring lasting peace.
“The picture which emerges is very dark, and apparently getting darker,” he told reporters on Monday. “So there are reasons for real concerns in the international community.”
Roed-Larsen, the current UN envoy for Lebanon-Syria issues who for many years was the top UN Mideast envoy, said “the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East has changed fundamentally over a few years.”
“A few years ago, as it had been over many, many decades, the center of gravity for all the conflicts were the Israeli-Arab conflicts,” he said. “Now, there seems to be four epicenters of conflict in the region with their own dynamics, the Iraqi issues, the Iranian issues, the Syrian-Lebanese issues, and of course the heart of hearts, the traditional conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli issue.”
More: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570251580&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
” “So there are reasons for real concerns in the international community “
Now, there’s a prize understatement....
(Of course, if there’s no mention of Paris/Lindsey/Ana, it’s not REALLY a concern, now, is it??)
I'm sure Ahmanutjob is concerned - he may even reconsider that whole 12th Imam thing. /sarc
PA diplomat: Clashes could ruin ME peace process
[ 12/06 17:28 - MIDDLE EAST ]
Report: Hamas TV station under fire in Gaza City
[ 12/06 17:27 - MIDDLE EAST ]
Flu pandemic drill held in Pardes Hanna
[ 12/06 17:25 - HEALTH ]
US adds 7 nations to human trafficking blacklist
[ 12/06 17:23 - INTERNATIONAL ]
PA minister blames violence on int’l embargo
[ 12/06 17:17 - INTERNATIONAL ]
Hamas: Fatah seized deputy cabinet minister
[ 12/06 16:53 - MIDDLE EAST ]
Abbas calls for immediate cease-fire in PA
[ 12/06 16:25 - MIDDLE EAST ]
Riot in Julis Labor polling station
[ 12/06 15:34 - ISRAEL ]
Mofaz’s Winograd testimony released Monday
[ 12/06 15:12 - ISRAEL ]
Lebanon: Fighting continues in refugee camp
[ 12/06 15:04 - MIDDLE EAST ]
‘Poland closer to hosting US missile shield’
[ 12/06 14:51 - INTERNATIONAL ]
Man found dead; suicide presumed
[ 12/06 14:31 - ISRAEL ]
Iraqi PM meets with US State Department official
[ 12/06 13:57 - MIDDLE EAST ]
W. Bank: Palestinians throw rocks at Israeli car
[ 12/06 13:42 - ISRAEL ]
Knesset passes bill outlawing animal testing
[ 12/06 13:30 - ISRAEL ]
Abbas: Hamas trying to seize Gaza by force
[ 12/06 13:13 updated 14:35 - MIDDLE EAST ]
Link: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/IndexList&cid=1123495333395
Captain Ed takes notice:
Gaza Collapsing
The latest cease-fire between Palestinian factions has collapsed almost before it got announced as Gaza slides into an all-out civil war. Refugees have begun to flee to Egypt, and Hamas-controlled mosques now serve as broadcast stations for war announcements:
Palestinian infighting, almost daily Israeli air strikes, and a steadily worsening economic situation triggered by an international aid boycott has made life unbearable for many Palestinians. Those who can are leaving.
European Union monitors at the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza Strip to Egypt say that more than 14,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza since Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers in 2005 and the rise to power of the Islamist Hamas five months later. In the past year alone, the average number of people leaving Gaza per day has doubled from 15 to 30.
The rising number of Palestinians seeking to emigrate has prompted Jerusalem’s Mufti, Mohammad Ahmed Hussein, to issue a fatwa prohibiting Palestinians from leaving Palestinian territories.
“Immigration from this blessed land is not permissible according to Islamic law,” said the religious edict. “People who live in this land should not leave it for the invaders and occupiers.”
That’s a sure sign of desperation. Imams now forbid movement of Palestinians even to other “blessed” lands, such as Muslim Egypt. Why? They know that if the Palestinians leave Gaza in droves, it will leave terrorist groups like Hamas, Fatah, and Islamic Jihad much more exposed to Israeli strikes.
The imams want their congregations to continue their roles as human shields so that terrorists can conduct holy wars. Isn’t that special? No wonder they call Islam the Religion of Peace.
It won’t matter. Palestinians in Gaza have seen their one opportunity to create a protostate, free from occupation, utterly collapse. They won’t stick around to starve or to get killed in the crossfire. Those with means will leave, to Egypt first and perhaps later to Jordan.
And if the imams haven’t covered themselves in enough blood already, now they’re announcing attacks from the minarets:
Militants from the armed wing of Hamas have threatened attacks on security positions in Gaza belonging to Palestinian rivals Fatah, reports say.
Hamas-run mosques in Gaza City gave Fatah fighters two hours to leave their positions.
The civil war is already on. Both sides have attacked each other’s leadership. Every round of diplomacy creates another cease-fire, which lasts as long as it takes to restock the ammunition. Ordinary Palestinians, who created this situation by supporting Hamas in their last elections, have no way to put an end to the fighting themselves, and the Israelis have learned not to do anything other than target terrorists who target Israel.
Let Gaza collapse. We can’t stop it anyway, and our efforts to intercede will by definition leave terrorists stronger in the region. Only when Palestinians tire of bloodshed will it end.
Link: http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010217.php
Damn its hot over there.
” Only when Palestinians tire of bloodshed will it end. “
Yeah....
Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened in, oh, the last seven centuries or so — and no indication that it’s happening now......
Weren’t they peaceful about 10,000 years ago?
Hamas TV: We have taken over the northern Gaza Strip
THE JERUSALEM POST ^ | Jun. 12, 2007
Posted on 06/12/2007 10:05:12 AM CDT by 3AngelaD
Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza, and succeeded in taking over a number of them, Israel Radio reported. Hamas-affiliated television said that the organization overtook the entire northern section of the Gaza Strip. After airing the report, the station was attacked by PA security forces and forced to play pro-Fatah songs. Israel Radio also reported that a top Fatah military official sent a message to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stating that security forces were holding their ground, but calling on the Fatah leader to order an end to the current policy of restraint, allowing troops to return fire.
Less then an hour after the attack, Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire. In response to the Hamas assault, Fatah gunmen kidnapped a deputy Cabinet minister from Hamas on Tuesday. The fate of Deputy Transportation Minister Faidi Shabaneh, 46, was not known. Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, said Shabaneh was not harmed, denying claims on Hamas Web sites that he had been killed by his captors. Hamas said Shabaneh was seized by gunmen after he emerged from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Also on Tuesday afternoon, Fatah announced that within several hours, the faction would decide whether to stay in the unity government with Hamas, or leave the Palestinian Authority government altogether, Israel Radio reported. The announcement coincided with a Hamas attack on the National Security headquarters in Gaza, an incident which followed a recent threat of such action by the extremist Islamic faction. National Security is one of the armed forces affiliated with Fatah. Hamas also announced that Fatah must evacuate all buildings used by Military Intelligence, the Revolutionary Guard, National Security and Preventive Security. ...
In recent days, internecine Palestinian violence reached new heights when rival factions took their fights into the hospitals, even causing treatment at one hospital to cease for several hours after a doctor was dragged to the street and shot six times in the legs. On Sunday, a Hamas member and a Fatah operative were killed by being cuffed and thrown off high-rises. ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848926/posts
” Weren’t they peaceful about 10,000 years ago? “
My guess would be, “no”......
What has Mohammed ever brought....
Pakistani Military To End Musharraf’s Rule?
Analysts have begun warning that Pervez Musharraf may not remain in power much longer, and that the American effort against Islamist terror groups may suffer as a result. The Pakistani strongman looks decidedly less strong at this point, and some question whether the Pakistani Army remains loyal at the moment, let alone in the future:
“As a political crisis boils in Pakistan, American analysts both inside and outside the government are expressing new doubts that President Musharraf will be able to hold onto power through the summer.
Over the past month, the military regime in Islamabad has faced a rising threat of violent jihadis in its capital, as well as the struggle between the president and the suspended chief justice of the country, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The twin challenges have led some analysts in the American intelligence community to begin questioning whether Pakistan’s military, traditionally General Musharraf’s most reliable ally, will support the current regime for much longer.
A Musharraf exit could deal a stinging blow to America in the war on terrorism. President Bush has lavished the Pakistani leader with arms sales and low-interest loans while keeping mum on his spotty human rights record. The logic has been that the former general, who himself came to power in a 1999 military coup, had dismantled his pre-September 11, 2001, policy of supporting the Taliban and would be the best possible option for American interests in Pakistan.
But the strongman’s grip on power appears to be loosening, with a number of analysts citing as evidence last month’s showdown inside Islamabad’s Red Mosque, also known as Lal Masjid. On May 22, thousands of Pakistani police amassed on the outskirts of the mosque after a pro-Taliban group took four police officers hostage inside.
The hostage crisis was eventually resolved, but only after General Musharraf tried and failed to launch a military strike on the building.”
Word has it that Musharraf’s orders got countermanded by Army brass, which did not want to conduct the operation at all. They’ve made it clear that they do not want to fight the border tribes of Waziristan in the efforts to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The refusal to engage at Lal Masjid — if it was that — sends a big message to Musharraf: Get out.
That will be a problem for the US. Pakistan has a natural affiliation with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The nation was founded by Muslim separatists and has usually had sympathies for like-minded groups. Musharraf himself allied with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar before the 9/11 attacks, a very popular position in Pakistan, and only moved away from that alliance under threat of American attack.
A return to that policy under new leadership would be disastrous to the war effort. In the first place, it would leave the Taliban and AQ as a permanent threat to Afghanistan. Much more worrisome, however, is that it leaves at least a theoretical path for terrorists to get nuclear weapons for their efforts. A sympathetic military regime may not have qualms about helping Omar off the floor by giving him weapons that have no real defense, especially if they felt they could hide the provenance of the nukes.
Link:http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010215.php
” Much more worrisome, however, is that it leaves at least a theoretical path for terrorists to get nuclear weapons for their efforts. “
Wonder why the captain waited until the last paragraph to make this (inappropriately) understated point??
The implications of a nuclear-armed, islamist state are, conservatively, staggering.......
Not to mention two of them.
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