Internecine Warfare

It’s been widely rumored, if not exactly reported, that Fatah elements in Gaza have tipped off the IDF to locations where Hamas stores weapons and conducts operations there. Hamas evidently believes that such reports are true:

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken. …

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had “executed” more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.

The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. …

The Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive “preemptive” campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah’s attempts to “spread anarchy and chaos.” He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas “to make sure that they don’t help Israel.”

Fahmi Za’arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of “executing” a number of Fatah detainees. … Za’arir [also] said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel.

The Palestinians that Hamas admits to murdering amount to around 10 percent of the total number reported killed since the Israeli offensive began. It’s reasonable to assume that these acknowledged victims of Hamas are included in the Gaza death totals that our press outlets report so breathlessly. What the real number of such victims is, of course, we have no idea.

Of all the thousands of “humanitarians” who have demonstrated against Israel’s effort to defend itself, are there any who care that many of the deaths and grievous injuries that have occurred in Gaza were inflicted not by Israel, but in cold blood for political purposes by Hamas?

OK, just kidding. It’s a rhetorical question, obviously.

To comment on this post, go here.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses