It turns out the Palestinians cannot even live “side by side, in peace and security” tm among themselves.
Violence raged for a fourth day in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as Palestinian gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah factions continued battling in the streets of Gaza City despite a cease-fire called by their leaderships.
At least 13 people [at least 16 according to the NYT; 20 according to the Jerusalem Post] were killed in the clashes Wednesday — eight Fatah activists and five from Hamas — bringing the total death toll in the factional fighting to at least 37 [40 according to the NYT].
Palestinians civilians learned that, if you’re going to violate the Geneva Convention by serving as human shields, it is better to do it against Israel than fellow Palestinians:
Dozens of Gaza residents [200 according to the NYT] turned out for a rally on Wednesday to demand an end to factional fighting, only to be caught in crossfire that left eight wounded.
"Just as we used to protect you from the occupation by acting as human shields, we have come to protect you from yourselves," one protester shouted at gunmen, referring to instances when Palestinian civilians positioned themselves between militants and Israeli forces.
Placing themselves between warring factions deployed on opposite ends of a Gaza City street, the protesters were forced to run for their lives when a gun battle erupted, witnesses said.
The report noted a local hospital said eight people were wounded in the crossfire, one critically. But the hospital couldn’t fully handle the situation, so guess where the wounded Palestinians were taken:
Magen David Adom reported that Palestinians wounded from crossfire in the infighting, including a young girl with a head wound, were transferred to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva for treatment.
The human shields ended up attacked by those they had shielded last year from the “occupation” (in Gaza — Judenrein since 2005), and then had to be transported across the border for the “occupiers” to treat them. It would take a combination of Orwell and Hobbes to describe Palestinian self-rule in Gaza.
What is now playing out was evident from Day One (and clear beyond dispute by the end of Week One), and was predicted with precision by Wretchard in a post from September 2005 summarized here. BtB has more from today here.
Masked Palestinians gunmen roam the streets in Gaza City. Eight Palestinians were killed when gunmen ambushed a rival force in Gaza as spiralling faction fighting claimed 11 lives, jeopardizing the future of a fledgling unity government. (AFP/Mohammed Abed)