A report by Haaretz correspondent Avi Issacharoff this morning says that Fatah and Hamas agreed last night on a number of policy issues, including (in Haaretz's words) limiting "resistance" operations against Israel to territories occupied since 1967.Without getting into an analysis of what self-serving "joint" declarations of this sort mean in reality, we can simply observe that there's a long history of mischief and media ignorance that surrounds the whole subject. A fairly typical indication can be gotten from what's happening this morning on Israel's border with Gaza.
Taking a temporary break from bombarding kindergartens, schools and shopping centers, gunmen of the Gaza "resistance" crossed into Israel early this morning, evidently via a tunnel. Haaretz says the Gazan terrorists split into three groups. One of them fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli tank, injuring three soldiers. A second fired a missile into an IDF pillbox in the Kerem Shalom area; and a third blew up an armored personnel carrier which was empty at the time. (We have posted an agency picture of the area above). Kerem Shalom, also the name of a kibbutz in the area, is Hebrew for "vineyard of peace". At least three of the gunmen are now dead following an exhange of fire with Israeli forces.
Nothing happens faster in the Middle East than the claiming of credit when Israeli targets are attacked, so Izz a Din al Qassam, which is one of the acknowledged (as distinct from unacknowledged) affiliates of Hamas, and the so-called People's Resistance Committees (PRC) which are also part of Hamas, and something relatively unknown called the Islamic Army, are all out there with press releases and candies.
The IDF says it has now warned "Palestinian security units to evacuate the Philadelphi Route along Gaza's southern border with Egypt in the Rafah area, saying Israeli military units were to enter" according to Haaretz. Yediot points out:
Since the IDF pullout from Gaza, soldiers foiled attempts of dozens of terror cells to carry out a terror attack on the border fence in the Strip. The cells attempted to place an explosive device or fire at forces patrolling the area. In most cases, the cells were spotted in time by IDF soldiers, sometimes with the assistance of the Israel Air Force. IDF sources noted that in spite of the fact that attacks were foiled and the difficulty terrorists have encountered when trying to carry out attacks. So far, more than 50 terrorists were killed on the border fence.
Our predictions:
- No foreign media report will connect the Fatah/Hamas tale of confining "resistance" to occupied territory. If they did, they would need to acknowledge that all of Israel is occupied in the eyes of the terror groups, and that Kerem Shalom and the entire border between Israel and Gaza is neither occupied nor disputed.
- If and when Israeli forces cross into Gaza to neutralize those who carried out this morning's attack, the photo coverage will be of Gaza mothers and children and of destroyed buildings. A balanced context (the months of endless missile barrages fired into Israeli civilian communities; Israeli civilian casualties and property damage on a daily basis; a co-ordinated military-style attack this morning on territory that no one considers disputed; a history of Egyptian forces, who are permanently present in the immediate vicinity of Kerem Shalom, turning a blind eye to terrorist tunnels and deployment) will be entirely absent.
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