As noted earlier, there is apparently a perverse sort of merger & acquisition activity going on between the various groups of killers among the Palestinians. Now Hamas gets a piece of the action:
Palestinian officials speaking at a meeting in the Muqata this week presented a grim picture of the Palestinian Authority's situation in the Gaza Strip, highlighting in particular the PA's lack of control over many activists from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing.According to the reports, a significant segment of armed Fatah leaders in Gaza answer to senior Hamas officials. These Fatah leaders are not even taking the phone calls of the leadership in Ramallah.
Two major groups that have effectively stopped operating under Fatah are the Abu Reish Brigades, which has been carrying out attacks in Gaza regularly over the last few weeks in conjunction with Hamas activists, and the Saladin Alayubi group, the armed wing of an organization that had been considered closely linked to Arafat. It has only recently become known that some members of this group now refuse to take instructions from Arafat. Although they have not declared an overt revolt against him, their actions indicate that they have crossed over to Hamas, whose leaders understand that recruiting other militants can help Hamas widen its power base in Gaza and break down Fatah loosening hold on the Gaza Strip.
Long-suffering Israel must see only chaos ahead, much of it created by the ineptness and corruption of Yasser Arafat. The only thing their thuggish neighbors have in common now is their hatred for the Jews.
Posted by Alan at March 17, 2004 06:01 AM