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World Ponders Possibility of Palestinian Civil War

Fighting between rival factions in the Gaza Strip has led many throughout the world to consider the possibility that a Palestinian civil war may be brewing or already in its opening stages. Before terror group Hamas was elected to the leadership of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in January, President Mahmoud Abbas of the PNA was reluctant to follow through with international demands to confront independent militias, using the excuse that he would not risk a civil war. Israel, the U.S., and many in Europe had demanded that the Palestinian Authority hold a monopoly on arms in the Palestinian territories.

Just a week after what was thought to be a breakthrough unity government agreement between the relatively young Hamas and the long-standing Fatah group of President Abbas, the specter of Arab-vs.-Arab violence right next door to Israel has the international community worried. With large-scale civil war also looming in the neighborhood, hundreds of kilometers away in Iraq, U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and European leaders are urging Palestinians not simply to return to the negotiating table with Israel ? but with themselves.

Following months of international sanctions, President Abbas could fire Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, a move which could trigger more violence like that which occurred over the past weekend, that violence claimed (reports differ) from ten to twelve lives and injured hundreds in the Gaza Strip. While many Israelis would no doubt relish the Palestinians finally coming to blows with each other, Jerusalem also has legitimate concerns regarding the possibility that any Palestinian Civil War violence would also spread into the neighboring Jewish state.