Defense officials expressed extreme concern over the growing unrest in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, warning that the internal Palestinian clashes could lead to the disintegration of the already unstable cease-fire and a possible Palestinian civil war. Defense officials at the Kirya Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv voiced concern that the escalating violence and unrest in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and trigger terror groups to renew Kassam rocket attacks aimed at the western Negev.
The violence in Gaza has led to political unrest, officials said, to the extent that the Palestinians might be on the brink of a civil war that could easily boil over into Israel in the form of a new wave of terror attacks.
This has already begun to happen. On Tuesday, five Kassam rockets were fired at Israel after days of relative quiet during which the cease-fire appeared to be holding. On Wednesday night IDF troops shot and killed a Palestinian spotted carrying a gun and several grenades along the security fence near the Karni Crossing into the Gaza Strip. "With the situation the way it is, there is no way of the cease-fire being implemented in the West Bank," said one official who called on the international world to intervene in the Gaza Strip and attempt to bring calm to the Palestinian territory.
According to defense officials, the current internal battles inside the Gaza Strip proved once again that Abbas was weak and incapable of enforcing order.
Oh Lawsy, he's weak and incapable? Say it ain't so!
Israeli officials have been holding meetings with members of Fatah to try to evaluate the severity of the situation. Defense officials said the fighting could be connected to "power struggles" concerning control over the Palestinian security branches, one of the main issues that remained in disagreement following the establishment of the Hamas government in the beginning of the year.
Despite the cease-fire, officials said Hamas was continuing to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip despite increased Egyptian efforts to stop the smuggling from the Sinai.