Obviously, Israel thinks that things have gotten to the point where they don't care about Hamas' "stock", only its capability. If Hamas is already maxed out in its attempts to kill Jews, what exactly is there for Israelis to fear? More local support of Hamas? They've got that anyway because the PA is so corrupt. They've doubly got it if they look like effective and invulnerable killers of Israelis. As I have said, you cannot regard this one killing by itself; Israel is moving against Hamas in a way that it hasn't in the last three years.
For all its warts, the PA is the only entity with which negotiations can take place
Ah geez, haven't we seen this movie already? You cannot negotiate with the PA. You cannot do anything with the PA, because Arafat is as bad as Hamas and nobody else can get their hands on the money or the guns. And now the PA is disintegrating. No loss. Everybody is waiting for Arafat to die.
I'm having difficulty understanding why, given Hamas' stance, did Sharon's government not put the screws to it and instead has concentrated in suppressing the more flexible Palestinian organizations, particularly those in the WB? It seems to me that Hamas, being the more radical adn therefore more dangerous organization, would have been given priority.
Look at the Israeli casualty figures in 2002. They were coming from West Bank suicide bombers, about half of whom were Hamas and half were Fatah. That is why the Israeli invasions were to the West Bank, where they disrupted both organizations, and really cut Hamas's effectiveness by taking the fight to Nablus and Jenin. Now Hamas is an effective organization only in Gaza. True, the suicide bombing still goes on, but the number of attacks and Israeli casualties were down by about 50% in 2003 vs. 2002. Gaza was already behind a fence, which the bombers could not get through. Therefore the problem was more contained. The Ashdod suicide bombing was the first to come from Gaza, and it was alarming because Hamas has learned Al Qaeda's trick of sending terrorists by shipping container. |
