Saturday
Jan102009
Gaza Story of the Day: The Plan to Bring in Fatah?
Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 15:32
In today's updates, you may have noticed the diplomatic development of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas enthusiastically backing the proposal for "international monitors" in Gaza while Hamas is resisting it. Why would that be?
Because, to be blunt, someone is spreading the story that the plan is a Trojan Horse to bring Fatah back into Gaza. From The Times of London, which is not exactly a Hamas-loving newspaper:
A plan to create a new foothold in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority and to bring in international monitors was being drawn up by diplomats yesterday....The plan would allow a return of the authority, led by the secular Fatah faction, to the territory 18 months after it was expelled by the Islamist Hamas.
Frustratingly, the article offers no further detail other than that "a triangle at the southern end of Gaza, including the Rafah crossing to Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing to Israel, [will] be policed by Turkish and French military monitors to stop arms smuggling into Gaza". How Fatah uses this to return to the Strip is unclear.
The most likely scenario is that someone in New York has had a word in the ear of James Bone, one of the co-authors of the piece. But whom?
Because, to be blunt, someone is spreading the story that the plan is a Trojan Horse to bring Fatah back into Gaza. From The Times of London, which is not exactly a Hamas-loving newspaper:
A plan to create a new foothold in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority and to bring in international monitors was being drawn up by diplomats yesterday....The plan would allow a return of the authority, led by the secular Fatah faction, to the territory 18 months after it was expelled by the Islamist Hamas.
Frustratingly, the article offers no further detail other than that "a triangle at the southern end of Gaza, including the Rafah crossing to Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing to Israel, [will] be policed by Turkish and French military monitors to stop arms smuggling into Gaza". How Fatah uses this to return to the Strip is unclear.
The most likely scenario is that someone in New York has had a word in the ear of James Bone, one of the co-authors of the piece. But whom?
tagged Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas in Middle East & Iran
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