Palestinian power struggle risks civil war
The Palestinian territories are in a state of near civil war and just one act of violence, such as a high-profile assassination, could trigger mayhem, an international think tank said on Tuesday.The International Crisis Group also said President Mahmoud Abbas’s determination to hold a referendum on July 26 on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel risked igniting more fighting with the ruling Hamas militant group.
Abbas and the Hamas government have been locked in a bitter power struggle since the Islamists took office after trouncing the president’s Fatah movement in January elections.
“Today the situation is but one tragic step — the assassination of a senior Fatah or Hamas leader, for example — from all-out chaos,” said a report from the Brussels-based ICG, an organization that seeks to prevent and resolve conflict.
I hope that a civil war can be avoided in Palestine. Greater conflict there would benefit no one.
