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Gaza Fighting

May 16, 2007 4:47 PM

By SIMON MCGREGOR-WOOD

Deadly fighting between rival Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip continued throughout the day.

It began with Hamas militants launching an audacious attack on the home of a senior Fatah security chief, Rashid Abu Shbak. At least five of his bodyguards were killed in the ensuing shoot out. Abu Shbak was not at home at the time.

Five Hamas gunmen were then killed in a botched ambush by their own side. The five had been detained by Fatah gunmen and were being transported in a vehicle which was then attacked.

Dozens of Palestinian gunmen have been killed in factional fighting that started over the weekend. It is the worst outbreak since the Palestinian National Unity Government was formed in February. One of the new government’s objectives was to bring law and order back to the streets of Gaza, an objective that now seems beyond its capabilities.

Later in the day the Israeli Airforce struck a target in the south of Gaza which it claimed was a base for Hamas fighters. Hamas has resumed its rocket attacks on Israeli communities neighboring Gaza in recent days. Several rockets have landed in the town of Sderot resulting in Israeli injuries. The airstrike appears to be retaliation for the rocket fire.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under growing political pressure to tackle the continuing problem of Palestinian rocket attacks. So far he has resisted calls for a full scale invasion of the Gaza Strip fearing Israeli military casualties.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the ceasefires put together by local political leaders are broken as quickly as they are made. There seems no end to the current bloodletting and many fear a slide into full scale civil conflict.

Each violent attack provokes revenge, and continues a bitter cycle of killing. The fighting is not only factional but is complicated by clan and family allegiances. The death of a clan member imposes a responsibility for revenge, making it difficult to halt the gun battles.

Some analysts explain Hamas’s latest round of rocket attacks as an attempt to draw the Israelis into a ground offensive and thereby unite the Palestinians against their common enemy.

So far the Israelis seem reluctant to grant them that wish.

May 16, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Protests Planned Against Olmert

May 03, 2007 9:48 AM

By SIMON MCGREGOR-WOOD

On Thursday night thousands of Israelis are expected to demonstrate in Rabin Square in the heart of Tel Aviv.

The demonstration is advertised as a popular message to the country’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. The message is that he should resign for his personal failure of leadership during last summer’s war in Lebanon. But those gathering tonight represent a broad political spectrum united by their growing mistrust of Israel’s political and military elite.

Earlier this week a report commissioned by his own government leveled harsh words of criticism against the already embattled prime minister. It accused him of rushing into full scale war without proper planning and consultation. The war failed in both of its goals, the return of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers and the destruction of Hizbollah’s military threat.

The Israeli public had already made up its mind that Ehud Olmert and his defense team were responsible for these failures, and his personal popularity has nose dived ever since.

The report’s publication has unleashed a tidal wave of anger, both within political circles and from tonight, on the streets. Olmert finds himself challenged by political allies as well as enemies, all calling for his immediate resignation. He has vowed to stay on and implement the recommendations of the report.

But there is a real sense here that tonight’s demonstration will be more than just a call for Olmert’s head. The Israeli public is sick and tired of its politicians. In the last year there has been a relentless succession of scandals and allegations of corruption.

Ehud Olmert himelf is under several investigations questioning his personal business practices as well as potential abuse of power while serving as a minister in a previous government. The country’s president Moshe Katsav has had to step down in the light of rape allegations. The finance minister was forced out amid accusations he stole money. The justice minister was ejected from his post following conviction for forcing a young female soldier to kiss him. The list goes on and Israelis have had enough.

Tonight’s demonstration will be just as much about their disgust with standards in public life, as it will be about the bungling of last summer’s war. Regardless, Ehud Olmert will remain the principle target of their hostility, and many here predict a large turnout may put him under intolerable pressure.

May 3, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)