[Ha'aretz] Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel - In Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, in an area of half-demolished houses, rises a structure that looks totally new, but turns out to be renovated. This is the Dhu al-Nureen Mosque, which is decked with many Hamas flags. Despite the economic siege, the organization has found the money needed for rehabilitating the mosque. At its entrance there are many pictures of martyrs and a few children trying to convince the reporters to buy a toy rifle from them. On Tuesday, armed men from one of the large clans abducted AP photographer Emilio Morenatti, and then released him. The clan that abducted him specializes in vehicle theft and extorting ransom. Also Tuesday Al Jazeera broadcast a documentary about the security chaos in the territories in which a number of heads of armed clans were interviewed. Talat al-Sha'ar from Rafah related without a glimmer of remorse how he kidnapped journalists and Red Cross representatives because the PA had not paid him money as it had promised. Sha'ar did not reject the possibility that he would kidnap senior PA people in order to preserve his family's economic interests. Mumtaz Durmush explained proudly that he had executed the head of military intelligence, Moussa Arafat, about a year ago. The heads of the clans/gangs can move securely around Gaza in the knowledge that the PA will not try to arrest them. Sha'ar and Durmush are simply taking advantage of the vacuum of governance that has been left by the struggle between Hamas and Fatah to become the real decision-maker in Gaza. The Israeli security establishment is watching the internal Palestinian friction. A contribution to strengthening Fatah at the expense of Hamas? We've been there, done that, and nothing came of it. Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin agree on the pointlessness of relying on the PA and Fatah to be the ones who will succeed in overcoming Hamas and doing the dirty work for Israel.
2006-10-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive