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Commentary;
The regime seems more concerned with it’s “peace(sic)” partners, about offending the US and about it’s insatiable lust for ceding more Jewish land to make it Yudenrein than about defending the national security. As for the Fatah threat to join up with Hamas — they already are and have always been despite the dog-and-pony show about their “little war”, so what else is new?
Were this author to predict: More of the same in Sderot and the Negev as emboldened Islamic murderers seize on a regime- handcuffed IDF. MB
PA: IDF Offensive in Gaza Would Scuttle Peace Negotiations, by Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
A massive IDF operation in the Gaza Strip will force the Palestinian Authority to boycott peace talks with Israel, PA officials warned Wednesday.
The officials told The Jerusalem Post that the talks, which are due to begin next week, according to the Annapolis peace conference, would be called off if the IDF invaded the Gaza Strip.
Ashkenazi: IDF is Prepared for Gaza Ground Operation (AP)
Meanwhile, Kadoura Fares, a top Fatah operative in the West Bank, confirmed that his faction was planning to fight alongside Hamas’s forces if the IDF sent troops into the Gaza Strip. Earlier this week, the Post revealed that Fatah leaders had decided to join with Hamas to fight against the IDF inside Gaza.
“Fatah will fight alongside all the Palestinian groups against the Israeli army when it invades the Gaza Strip,” Fares said. “In such a case, Hamas won’t be left alone in the confrontation with Israel.”
The officials’ threats to boycott the negotiations with Israel came against a backdrop of reports that Israel was considering launching a massive attack in response to the firing of rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip.
The officials said the PA leadership had informed the US and other members of the Quartet that its representatives would not be able to sit at the negotiating table with Israelis while the IDF was operating in the Gaza Strip.
“Our message is very clear,” said one official. “An Israeli military escalation will sabotage the peace process and all that was achieved at the Annapolis conference. We’re not going to negotiate with Israelis while their tanks are inside the Gaza Strip. Our people will spit in our faces.”
IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday that the IDF was prepared for a ground operation in Gaza, but a decision on the matter depended on the political echelon.