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التايم الأمريكية - 13/6/2007
What
Happens After Hamas Wins?
Wednesday, Jun. 13, 2007
By
TIM
MCGIRK/JERUSALEM
The
fall of
Gaza
to the fighters of Hamas has dealt a serious blow to
U.S.
policy toward the Palestinians. Thursday's announcement
that President Mahmoud Abbas will dissolve the
Palestinian unity government headed by Hamas and call
for the deployment of an international security force in
Gaza appears to confirm that the Islamist movement has
decisively won the vicious battle for control of the
territory that has raged between its forces and those of
Abbas's Fatah movement for the past four days. Though
Abbas's decision to disband the government is unlikely
to be accepted by Hamas — which won the last
Palestinian elections in January 2006 — the outcome of
the battle effectively leaves the Palestinian Authority
politically partitioned.
Gaza
is in the hands of Hamas, while Fatah rules the
West Bank
, and the prospect of
turning this entity into a Palestinian state alongside
Israel
appears even more remote than at any time since the
failure of the
Camp David
talks in 2000.
Israeli
leaders are considering their options in dealing with
the reality that Abbas, with whom
Washington
wants
Israel
to pursue a peace deal, has lost control of
Gaza
. And the
U.S.
policy of bolstering Abbas's authority and prestige in
order to weaken the Islamists and restore Fatah to power
has suffered a serious setback. The U.S had spent
millions of dollars training security forces that were
supposedly disciplined and loyal to Abbas, but as Hamas
militia advanced across
Gaza
this week, many of these
simply cut and ran; at least 40 officers of Abbas's
elite presidential guard blew a hole in the Israeli
security wall corralling
Gaza
and fled into
Egypt
.
Hamas'
conquest of
Gaza
may now be a fait accompli. By Wednesday, hundreds of
Fatah forces loyal to Abbas had either run out of
ammunition, fled or been cornered into surrender.
Thousands of others simply melted away. And the rout
appeared nearly complete on Thursday when the third of
four major Fatah command centers in
Gaza
fell to Hamas. President
Abbas himself was in the distant
West Bank
town of
Ramallah
(as were many of his senior commanders), far from the
fighting. In
Gaza
, the 18,000-man police
force on Abbas' payroll failed to help the president's
men. One Western diplomat, when asked if there were any
concentration of Fatah commanders still left in
Gaza
, replied sarcastically:
"No. But try
Switzerland
,
or their mansions in
Kuwait
."
From the safety of Ramallah, Abbas urged the
Gaza
fighters to halt "the
madness." But it was too late for that; sensing
victory, Hamas shrugged off efforts by the Egyptians and
others to press for a new cease-fire.
Events
in
Gaza
were "a source of profound concern," said
White House spokesman Tony Snow on Thursday, accusing
Hamas of "once again committing acts of terror, now
against the Palestinian people."
For
months, Abbas, urged on by
U.S.
advisers, had been strengthening his security forces in
Gaza
. But Hamas was not idle
during that interlude. The well-disciplined Islamists
were busy plotting for this final assault, stockpiling
ammunition, mortars and tons of explosives. They drew up
lists and established the whereabouts of senior Fatah
officers to be executed, positioned snipers on tall
buildings around rival outposts and even tunneled under
Fatah security headquarters in Khan Younis, where on
Tuesday Hamas blew up a one-ton charge of explosives,
killing 13 people. "We are fighting for our
faith," one Hamas spokesman explained to a radio
interviewer, "and Fatah are fighting for their
salaries. That is why we will win."
Israeli
officials say
Washington
had tried to avert the rout of Fatah in
Gaza
by pleading with
Israel
to rush in a new supply of arms. But Israeli
intelligence sources told TIME that Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert's office refused to help Abbas, fearing that the
arms would fail to make the difference and would end up
in the hands of Hamas. Western diplomats blame Olmert's
government for consistently undermining Abbas, thus
strengthening the Islamic militants. "
Israel
has one policy with the Palestinians," this
diplomat said, "And that's 'Keep them weak'."
Olmert
is expected to meet with President George W. Bush in
Washington
next week, and may face a
grilling over why he hasn't done more to prop up the
moderate Abbas. "For the Israelis to say that Abbas
is 'weak' is a self-fulfilling prophecy. They've helped
to weaken him," this diplomatic source commented
bitterly.
On
the Israeli side, one senior intelligence official told
TIME: "Nobody here is sorry that this [fighting] is
happening. We know of at least six known Hamas
terrorists who were killed. Having Hamas solely in power
will turn Palestinians against Hamas." Israeli
officials are also mulling over whether to ask U.N.
peacekeepers to monitor
Gaza
's
border with
Egypt
to prevent arms being smuggled to Hamas, although it is
doubtful that either
Egypt
or the U.N. would agree to such a move.
Meanwhile,
the factional war spread into the
West
Bank
city of
Nablus
,
where Fatah and Hamas gunmen exchanged fire throughout
Wednesday. Palestinian radio also claimed that Fatah
gangs had kidnapped several prominent Hamas members to
use as leverage. Israeli intelligence sources and
diplomats say that the fighting may not prove as fierce
in the
West
Bank
since the territory is under Israeli watch, and Hamas
fighters, who have operated largely underground, possess
fewer weapons.
In
Gaza
, locals report that areas
under Hamas control were safe, aside from stray bullets.
During the day, over a thousand Gazans marched in
protest against the factional fighting but swiftly
dispersed when Hamas, according to several eyewitness
accounts, fired into the crowd, killing at least one
protester. After two United Nations workers were killed
in crossfire, the U.N. on Wednesday announced it was
scaling back its massive aid program to many of
Gaza
's
needy 1.5 million Palestinians.
—
With reporting by Aaron. J. Klein/Jerusalem
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1632614,00.html
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