Excerpts of a report by Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post show Hamas at war with Fatah as well as with Israel, which has just bisected Gaza (HT: Powerline):

the Fatah leadership in the West Bank has instructed its followers to be ready to assume power over the Gaza Strip when and if Israel’s military operation results in the removal of Hamas rule…”Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing,” a senior Fatah official said. “They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip.”…

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…Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets…

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…at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the “collaborators.”…

a Hamas official in Gaza City said that his government had received information according to which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had instructed his loyalists in the Strip to start moving toward undermining Hamas…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. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi…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 decision to place Fatah operatives under house arrest was issued by the much-feared “Internal Security Apparatus,” which reports to the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza. The order, which was delivered to the Fatah activists on Thursday, reads: “You are forbidden from leaving your home for 48 hours unless you want to attend Friday prayers. Anyone who violates the order will be punished.”

Meanwhile, there is apparently plenty of support for Hamas in the street, and Al Jazeera is doing its part to feed the flames of rage and protest. JPost:

“Mubarak has become the number one enemy of the Arab masses,” commented a Palestinian newspaper editor in Ramallah. “President Mahmoud Abbas is also in big trouble, because he’s being portrayed as someone who supported the Israeli attack so that he could return to the Gaza Strip.”

The incitement against Mubarak and Abbas in the Arab media is likely to intensify as Al-Jazeera continues to broadcast horrific images of dead women and children in Gaza. As in the past, it is now spearheading a campaign aimed at discrediting “moderate” Arab rulers, by depicting them as pawns in the hands of the Israelis and Americans. The message that Al-Jazeera is sending to the Arab and Islamic masses is: “You must rise against your treacherous leaders, because they are serving the interests of Israel and the US.”

During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Al-Jazeera and many Arab media outlets also waged a campaign against the Arab leaders, accusing them of “collusion” with Israel. Fortunately for those leaders, that war did not last too long…Operation Cast Lead…is likely to boost Hamas’s popularity not only among the Palestinians, but also on the streets of Khartoum, Amman, Cairo and Beirut…Mubarak, Abbas and King Abdullah II tried unsuccessfully over the past week to prevent the protests from spreading…

The Arab street is ready for a third intifada, said Palestinian writer Rashad Abu Shawar. “Those Arabs who are exonerating Israel and blaming Hamas are being regarded as traitors,” he said. “This week, we already saw the spark of the third intifada on the streets of Ramallah, Hebron, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, as well as inside Israel. These Arab regimes want to see Gaza surrender, so that they can eliminate the term ‘resistance’ from their lexicon. The third intifada won’t only finish off the PA; it will also destroy the illusion of peace with the Israeli enemy.”

Meanwhile, the silence of the President elect is being viewed as support for the Israeli operation. AFP: “‘The start is not good,’ said Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Hamas Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza since June 2007. ‘You commented on Mumbai but you say nothing about the crime of the enemy (Israel). This policy of double standards should stop’.”

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