An incursion into Gaza just hours after new Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen was sworn-in put into grave doubt the intentions of the Israeli government. Khaled Amayreh, in Jerusalem, reports Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave a characteristically Israeli welcome to the new Palestinian government, headed by reformist Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen. Barely a few hours after Abu Mazen's government was sworn-in in Ramallah, Israeli occupation troops, backed by tanks, armoured personnel carriers and Apache helicopter gunships, stormed the Shujaiya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza. As was usual for such operations, Israeli soldiers attacked civilians, killing as many as 13 Palestinians. The victims included a two-year- old child, a young boy of 13 and several others, including three brothers from the same family. Some locals sought to defend themselves against the invading forces, using mainly light weapons. Facing overwhelming firepower, mainly Hamas fighters fought valiantly for several hours, in the end preferring to die as martyrs than be captured and humiliated by the Israeli army. Several homes were demolished or badly damaged, as were many cars and businesses. The scene was one of utter devastation. On the same day, the Israeli army killed two Palestinians in the town of Yatta, 10 kilometres southwest of Hebron, and a third in the northern West Bank. The Israeli government described the events in Gaza as, "a successful operation". Not a single word of regret or remorse over the loss of innocent lives was uttered. For Hamas, however, the unprovoked killing of 16 Palestinians on a single day proved that Palestinian resistance groups should never agree to give up their weapons, a demand made earlier by the new Palestinian premier. "Does the new Palestinian government expect us to give up our weapons so that we will be slaughtered like sheep?" asked Abdul-Aziz Al- Rantisi, Hamas's chief spokesperson in Gaza. Rantisi dismissed suggestions that resistance groups ought to give up their light firearms in order to please the Americans and Israelis as "scandalous and disgraceful". This doesn't seem to be a minority opinion among the Palestinian public. Indeed, there seems to be overwhelming opposition to the disarmament of resistance groups before a complete Israeli withdrawal from erstwhile Palestinian Authority (PA) enclaves in Gaza and the West Bank. Even PA Chairman Yasser Arafat seems to oppose proposed measures to unilaterally and unconditionally disarm the resistance groups. This is very significant because whatever public support Abu Mazen receives will be the result of his association with Arafat and Fatah. In other words, if Arafat withdraws his support for Abu Mazen, even implicitly, this could seriously erode the latter's legitimacy as prime minister. Finding itself between the hammer of unceasing Israeli atrocities, which mainly target innocent Palestinian civilians, and the anvil of Palestinian public opinion, the Abu Mazen government has been forced into a truly embarrassing situation. Abu Mazen himself had hoped that the formation of his government would make Israel refrain from its bloody incursions into Palestinian population centres. This, he thought, would place him in a better position to disarm relatively powerful resistance groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Abu Mazen, who critics say overestimates American backing of his government, realises that he can not do the job the Americans and the Israelis expect him to do without enjoying at least a semblance of public support at home. But that support will never be forthcoming as long as Palestinian civilians continue to be killed on a daily basis. More to the point, there seems to be a growing awareness within the PA, including the new government, that Sharon and his government are not really interested in restoring calm and restarting the peace process. These fears are not without foundation. This week, Israeli officials, including Sharon and Mofaz, made it clear that Israel wouldn't be content with a mere cease-fire with Palestinian "terror" groups. Sharon insisted that the PA would have to destroy the infrastructure of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah. The Israeli premier didn't clarify what he meant by "destroy" and "infrastructure". However, it is clear that the Palestinian people, namely the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are fed up with Israel's dehumanising and enduring military occupation, constitute the ultimate infrastructure of the resistance groups. So, does Sharon really suggest that the new Palestinian government attack its own Palestinian people? Needless to say, any Palestinian leader would lose, not only his political career, but his life as well, should he dare cross this red line. Facing Sharon's ostensibly malicious intent with respect to the "roadmap" peace plan and his brazen insolence, Abu Mazen can only hope that Washington will pressurise Israel to "calm down". On Monday 5 May, Abu Mazen met with visiting American Undersecretary of State William Burns in Ramallah and reportedly asked him to press Israel to stop its incursions into Palestinian towns. Burns, according to some Palestinian Authority sources, "heard but didn't listen". Blindly echoing Israeli demands, the American envoy demanded that the new Palestinian government act against "terror groups". But how can the Palestinian government move against "terror groups" without first re- establishing authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? This is the question Abu Mazen hopes Colin Powell will answer during his visit to Israel and Palestine next week.
