Hamas finally found some terrorists that they feel comfortable condemning:
The tight results of Israel’s general elections on Tuesday set the stage for what could be weeks of coalition negotiations, after Kadima and Likud emerged nearly neck-to-neck with 29 and 28 seats respectively. Although Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party won more seats, a strong-right-wing bloc led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu – which came in third with 15 seats – could nevertheless take over the coalition. Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum called the election results a demonstration of Israeli support for an extremist government led by a “troika of terrorism.” “This shows that the Zionist voters clearly start choosing the one who is most extreme in his speech, the one who wants war with the Palestinians,” Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas official, told Al-Jazeera. “This troika, this trio of terrorism of Lieberman, Livni and Netanyahu chose the dramatic development in Israeli society towards terror.”
Global media outlets have been eagerly relaying how Hamas isn’t physically behind the 40 or so post-Cast Lead rockets. That’s true as far as it goes, minus the part where they’re capable of controlling almost all of the activity in Gaza – if they want. In any case it’s irrelevant now. A Grad rocket just got been fired and that means Hamas.
On Wednesday the Israeli cabinet is set to consider a truce, including terms for a prisoner swap. No one knows what the terms are. But if they’re not devastating then it’s a victory of sorts for Israel: Hamas has insisted again and again that the truce can’t have anything to do with Shalit. Olmert has insisted the exact opposite. We’ll know more when details of the swap start getting leaked by irresponsible cabinet officials.
References and previously after the jump…
References:
* Hamas: Zionist voters have elected a ‘troika of terrorism’ [Ha'aretz]
* Hamas ‘not responsible’ for recent rocket attacks, says Israel [Telegraph]
* Roadside bomb, Grad rocket disrupt calm in south [YNet]
* Israel to consider Hamas prisoner swap and truce [Reuters]
* Hamas: Truce won’t include Schalit [JPost]
* Hamas refuses to link truce to Shalit’s release – Israel News, Ynetnews [YNet]
* Olmert: No Truce Until Shalit Is Released [Forward]
Previously:
* Top 10 Stupid Media Tricks From Week 1 Of Operation Cast Lead
* Israel To Call Unilateral Ceasefire, Declare Partial Victory (Plus: Has Operation Cast Lead Achieved Anything?)
* Unilateral Israeli Ceasefire Going Exactly As Expected
