Conflict Blotter

Have a look at this rather bizarre clip starring notorious Hamas TV children’s character Nahool the bee. The clip ultimately arrives at a rather commendable end with a message about being kind to animals, although one might question the means used to deliver the message.
In any case, I mention this only because it’s my second […]

[Read more →]

Cam Simpson and Neil King Jr. have a worthwhile read in the Wall Street Journal (subscription) about the intelligence and arms trove Hamas seized in Gaza. Hamas claims to have found documents exposing a broad Fatah spy-ring working against Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, on behalf of the US. It was […]

[Read more →]

Ellen Knickermeyer writes in today’s WaPo that Egyptian security forces have uncovered 75 percent fewer smuggling tunnels into Gaza since Hamas’ takeover there. Egypt border guards used to find four tunnels a week into Gaza, but since Hamas took charge they have uncovered just four, the Egyptian colonel told the Post.
Palestinian border guards, identified by […]

[Read more →]

Hamas PM Ismail Haniya’s claim in Thursday’s Guardian that the UK and Hamas have strengthened their ties seems credible . After all, the British government reversed its policy of boycotting Hamas when Alan Johnston was kidnapped and since then Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad has been to the UK twice, as has Haniya advisor Ahmed Yussuf. […]

[Read more →]

Courtesy of Checkpoint Jerusalem’s Dion Nissenbaum, here’s this picture of a banner Hamas has hung in Gaza City.

Hamas has launched a definite charm offensive. Ismail Haniya’s office has invited correspondents on a first of its kind tour of the Gaza Strip this Monday. Here’s the email invitation:
Dear Madams/Sirs,
More than a month ago, the Palestinians reclaimed […]

[Read more →]

There is a great reader comment thread on Al Jazeera sparked by the posting of a bunch of what look like personal photographs showing Mohammad Dahlan laughing gayly with Israeli army officers and politicians.

Another reader fired back with pictures of his own, including this one showing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad kissing an orthodox Jew […]

[Read more →]

I guess Hamas hasn’t quite fully restored law and order yet:
Who stole the shoes of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh while he was attending Friday prayers in Gaza City? This is the question that Hamas’s security apparatus has been trying to answer since last Friday.
The shoes were stolen after Haniyeh and his entourage arrived at […]

[Read more →]

The Israeli cabinet approved a list of 256 Palestinian prisoners to be freed this Friday. Meanwhile, however, Israel quietly released former Hamas minister Nasser Shaer from prison today. Freeing the most senior Hamas lawmaker to be rounded up since the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit over one year ago may be a strong indication of progress […]

[Read more →]

Just days after Gaza fell to Hamas, the Islamists’ senior most official in Beirut Osama Hamdan met with a prominent western lawmaker to lay out Hamas’ side of the story. In a candid, wide ranging conversation, Hamdan offers a fascinating and compelling narrative of the course of events that led up to the Gaza takeover. […]

[Read more →]

As we bemoan the pitfalls of the current US/Israeli efforts to bolster Fatah in its battle with hated Hamas, it might be fitting to recall Hamas and Israel’s oft-forgotten dirty little. Seen as an effective means of undermining the secular nationalist movement, ie Fatah and the PLO, Israel allowed and encouraged Hamas to blossom […]

[Read more →]