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The Islamic Hamas is turning up the heat on the few remaining Christians in Gaza:

Sunday, masked gunmen in Gaza City set fire to the Latin Church and went on a rampage inside the Rosary Sisters School on Sunday.

The attack was the first of its kind since Hamas took full control over the Gaza Strip last week…

Leaders of the Christian community in the Strip expressed deep concern over the fate of the Christians living under Hamas. They said most of them wanted to leave the Gaza out of fear for their lives. An estimated 2,500 Christians live in Gaza City.

[Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas condemned the attack as barbaric and despicable, and blamed Hamas militiamen. “The torching of the church is one of the fruits of the bloody coup that Hamas staged in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Several Christian institutions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have been targeted by masked gunmen over the past few months. Last April, a bookstore run by the Bible Society in the Gaza Strip was bombed, but no one was hurt.

A group calling itself the Huda (Guidance) Army Organization threatened to target all Christians living in the Gaza Strip following remarks against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that were made last year by Pope Benedict XVI.

“We will target all Crusaders in the Gaza Strip,” the group said in a leaflet, “until the pope issues an official apology.”

“All centers belonging to Crusaders, including churches and institutions, will from now on be targeted,” it said. “We will even attack the Crusaders as they sit intoxicated in their homes.”

The Huda Army Organization said preparations had been completed “to strike at every Crusader and infidel on the purified land of Palestine “. — Jerusalem Post

Hamas has already done some ‘purification’ by bombing internet cafés, harassing women who are ‘improperly’ dressed, and tearing down statues — just like the Taliban.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Christians

Three Katyusha missiles were fired at the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona today; two of them struck the city. There were no injuries but there was significant property damage. Hezbollah denied responsibility, and the Lebanese army claims to have prevented an additional rocket from being launched.

The IDF suspects that the rockets were launched by a Palestinian group that wanted to start a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It was also suggested that possibly it had some connection to the ongoing struggle between the Lebanese army and the Fatah al-Islam organization in the refugee camps.

Just the usual everyday Arab terrorism against Israel. Just like breathing, they fire a few rockets, do a drive-by or maybe a bombing inside Israel. Even during the horrendous fighting between Hamas and the hapless Fatah in Gaza, somebody took time out to launch a few Qassams at Sderot. The multiplicity of terrorist groups, all with their particular brand of ideology, religious, secular, allied with Syria, funded by Iran, connected to al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood — they all have the same way of expressing themselves, which is to try to kill Jews.

Unless the Jews are unavailable, in which case the fruit of the highly developed Arab civilizations has to content itself with murdering and dismembering Arabs associated with other factions, looting, or other less satisfying pursuits.

Technorati Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Palestinians, terrorism, Katyusha, Qassam rocket

Here’s a picture of a Hamas terrorist clowning around at the Rafah terminal (the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza) which is now in their hands. Possibly he’s trying to send the message that weapons, explosives, and terrorist operatives will pass through the border even more freely than before.

Hopefully they can eat TNT in Hamastan, because it’s not clear where their food will come from. They did manage to shoot at least 4 Qassams at Israel today, so apparently the high-priority part of their economy is functioning.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Rafah

Mahmoud Abbas intends to form a new Palestinian Authority (PA) government, without Hamas and with Salam Fayyad, the Western-educated finance minister as Prime Minister.

The US expects the international aid boycott — which was placed on the PA as a result of Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and accept prior agreements between Israel and the PA (i.e., the Oslo agreements) — to be lifted. US military aid to Fatah in the West Bank will certainly increase.

Abbas’ Fatah movement is in a much stronger position in the West Bank than it was in Gaza, in part due to the Israeli security forces de facto control of the area. Hamas now has total control of Gaza, having wiped out any traces of resistance from Fatah.

Hamas, of course does not accept Abbas’ government as legitimate and maintains that Ismail Haniyeh is still Palestinian PM. It will be interesting to see how various governments in the Arab world and the West will line up. My guess is that Iran and Syria will support Hamas, while most of the West and the ‘moderate’ Arabs will support Abbas. I’m certain that Israel will soon resume transfers of Palestinian tax money to the new Fayyad government.

This situation will have negative and positive consequences for Israel. Negatively, there is now a full-fledged terrorist state on Israel’s southern border, although practically speaking, Hamas’ preparations for war — the weapons smuggling, tunnel-digging, etc. — were probably not significantly impacted by the now-eliminated Fatah presence. It’s not clear how Israel will deal with the issue of supplying water and electricity to an officially hostile Gaza, nor whether this will make a difference in the scope or kind of operations Israel will mount to suppress Qassam rocket fire, which has continued (although at a slightly reduced rate) through all of the recent chaos.

Positively, Hamas’ influence on the West Bank will probably decline, at least if Abbas and Fatah have anything to do with it.

This will certainly drive Abbas closer to the US and Israel. Some have suggested that Israel and the PA now have an opportunity to negotiate a peace agreement. This is a long shot. The PA would have to accept the idea of a state alongside Israel, and the same intractable issues of the past remain: refugees, Jerusalem, borders. Even if the difficult questions could be resolved, then — unlike in the past — no such agreement could cover Gaza. But talks would be advantageous in any case, since they might lead to a reduction of Israeli control (the checkpoints) in return for real action against terrorist elements.

Meanwhile, I think that Israel and the US has the right to demand of Abbas and/or Fayyad that in return for their support, an end must be put to the al-Aqsa brigades terrorist activities against Israel. It does not make sense for the US and Israel to arm terrorists that will turn their guns on Israel or transfer them to Hamas.

If there is to be any hope for the Fatah PA to get real popular support, it will have to reduce the level of corruption and control the various private gangs and militias that operate in association with it. There’s no historical precedent for this, but one can hope.

Technorati Tags: Israel, Abbas, Fayyad, Fatah, Hamas, Gaza, West Bank