While Egypt moves to bolster the Palestinians and dress down Israel, Hamas and Fatah are at each other's throats, writes Ibrahim Nafie After talks in Sharm El-Sheikh with Israel's Ehud Olmert, President Mubarak voiced his indignation over the Israeli incursion into Ramallah, carried out only hours before the meeting. Speaking at a news conference, President Mubarak said that such actions did not help promote peace or pave the road for negotiations. The president made his views so plain that the Israeli prime minister had no option but to apologise, twice, for his army's actions. President Mubarak called on Israel to ease tensions in the Palestinian territories so that negotiations may start once again. Israeli media reported Mubarak's remarks and questioned the merits of the military operation. The media reported Mubarak's warning of the risks of weapons of mass destruction in the region as well as his call for making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone. Meanwhile, Hamas and Fatah were exchanging bullets as well as recriminations. President Mahmoud Abbas wanted the Executive Forces, formed by the Palestinian Interior Ministry, to merge with the official security services or else. Hamas reacted by raising the number of the Executive Forces from 5,000 to 12,000. The rhetoric escalated when six Palestinian armed groups issued a statement denouncing President Abbas and threatening to use force to settle the current dispute. Mahmoud Dahlan, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, reacted with a threat of further tit-for-tat violence. As the Palestinians teetered on the verge of civil war, the future looked bleak. Israeli media pointed out that the Egyptian president didn't give Olmert a chance to claim that military action was in self- defence, which is Israel's traditional argument. The media praised Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for speaking out against Israeli incursions and urging a restart of talks. Livni, Israeli media said, was a true politician, for she had bravely admitted that Palestinian operations against Israel's occupation forces were not acts of terror, so long as they were conducted against occupation forces in an occupied land. On 8 January, Maariv reported that the Israeli army was introducing new regulations by which field commanders would need special permission to conduct incursions into Palestinian territories. According to the media, the Israeli army would have to take international and political circumstances into account, not just military needs. As President Mubarak exerted relentless efforts to stop the Israeli aggressions, Palestinian fighters were sadly headed toward confrontation. Apart from its obvious benefits to Israel, Palestinian infighting is not helpful to anyone. It undermines the image of the Palestinians abroad. It sabotages all attempts by Arab leaders and the Arab League to improve things. And it gives the Israeli government the chance to claim, yet again, that no Palestinian partner exists.
