 Hamas will not surrender its weapons to the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip after Israel's pullout from the territory, one of the movement's top leaders has said. "This army will continue to defend our homeland as long as one inch of Palestine remains occupied," Mahmoud al-Zahar told reporters on Friday, after attending a training session of Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. "It is criminal to claim that there is only one weapon," al-Zahar said in reference to declarations by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insisting that the Palestinian Authority was the only legitimate security tool.
| Zahar can describe it as criminal, but the Paleo Authority is the group that's recognized as the proto-government in the area. It's the organization with an observer at the UN, and it runs the Paleoparliament. They've even had elections. Hamas remains a political party and an armed militia. If it's not under government control, even a proto-government, then it's an outlaw band that should be broken up. Places like Somalia have militias running all over the place, pushing Armed Struggle™ as a way of life. The countries with the strongest "militias" are the ones that're highest (or maybe lowest) on the list of failed states. |
During a keynote speech to the Palestinian parliament earlier this week, Abbas urged all armed groups to end their rocket attacks on Israeli targets, as part of a larger appeal for calm during the pullout. Abbas met al-Zahar and Hamas's two other top Gaza leaders on Tuesday in a bid to ensure the group's fighters would not seek to scupper the historic pullout of Israeli troops and settlers.
| I'd guess that Zahar and Haniyeh are probably next on the list for helizapping next time a bus booms. |
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