Saturday, June 30, 2007

Israel assassinates Fatah militants in Gaza

Among the Palestinians assassinated in the Gaza Strip today, not one is a member of Hamas, nor even all of them Islamic Jihad. Haaretz reported this,

"Abu Thaer, a spokesman for the armed wing of Fatah, said the head of the group's militant wing in the central Gaza region, 50-year-old Salah Quffa, had been killed in the attack.

His son, Iyad, was also killed, the spokesman said.

The third casualty, 40-year-old Samir Abu-Muslim, was apparently a civilian bystander."

These are members of the Ayman Jouda group, a part of
Fatah's military wing who have long acted independently of the Palestinian president and his security commanders. In recent infighting between Hamas and a number of Fatah security forces they stayed far from the fighting. The existence of such entities dispel notions of a mere "civil war" between Hamas and Fatah. Groups such as Ayman Jouda point to the increasing fragmentation of Fatah, largely along the lines of pro- and anti-US complicity.

2 comments:

Karin said...

It is hard to know what to say, Philip, and, sitting here in peace and comfort, harder still to know what it must be like for you and others living with all this.

Thank you that you keep posting and keep showing us glimpses of your reality so that we are not totally ignorant of the sitution in Gaza nor too smug and complacent.

Karin said...

Wonderful news about Alan Johnston

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