IDF doing what Abbas Failed to Do

In January 2005 most of the world press and pundits were experiencing a touchy feel good moment with the election of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. I was among the few who declined to believe a new day was dawning for the Palestinian Authority sans Arafat.

One of the reasons some many felt so hopeful with Abbas, was that he wasn’t, well Arafat. Many tried to point out that a man who managed to survive and stay on relatively good terms with Arafat had to be cut from the same cloth – birds of a Fatah and all that. It takes a particularly warped kind of psychological pathological to pursue a degree in holocaust denial. Let alone choose to seek academic accreditation under the old United Soviet Socialist Republic.

When Abbas announced plans to issue a decree forbidding Palestinians from carrying unlicensed guns, it was important to note that Abbas did not make any concrete gestures to remove guns from the hands of the politico/para-militias that were carrying unlicensed weapons. And of course, it failed to register on most people’s radar that Arafat regularly issued such decrees during his reign prohibiting the citizenry from carrying unlicensed weapons.

Abbas preferred to attempt to negotiate with the various and sundry politico/para-militias operating in the Palestinian Authority rather than take on the groups head first and risk potentially a civil war. There’s a point of irony in how the failure of the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, is the same failure of Abbas’ Palestinian Authority. Let’s face it; south Lebanon is starting to look a lot like Gaza or is it Gaza’s starting to look a lot like south Lebanon - I can't tell. Anyhoo, I bring this up because Ynet News Online is reporting that the IDF is going to start a massive operation designed to do what Abbas coulda, shoulda, woulda done but never did:

The Israel Defense Forces distributed pamphlets last night (Wednesday) throughout the Gaza Strip warning residents of the area that the IDF will soon start bombing houses which are suspected of hiding weapons or ammunition.

"We will no longer allow terrorist organizations to hide weapons in civilian homes. We will distance the civilians from the area and then will damage these strongholds," said an army source in the Southern Command.

"The minute these announcements have been sent, the lives of anyone who has weapons or ammunition in their house are in danger and they must leave their house for the sake of their lives and their family's lives," one of the leaflest distributed read.

Until now, the IDF has avoided taking action against the weapons caches found in private residences in Gaza out of worry for harming innocent civilians. The Southern Command has understood that the terrorist organizations exploit this policy of caution and have hidden weapons and ammunition in garages, shelters and rooms of Palestinian civilians' houses.

"From now on, things will be managed differently," said a source in the Southern Command. "We have distributed pamphlets to everyone. In the next stage we will send warning to each specific region, after which we will simply act against these weapons caches. There are places in which the civilians know they are living below weapon storehouses. This will not be allowed to happen anymore."