Last Updated: Friday, 15 December 2006
Press fears civil war for Palestinians http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6182819.stm
Palestinian papers express the fear that mounting tensions between Hamas and Fatah following an attack on the prime minister's convoy and the ensuing clashes between rival security forces in southern Gaza on Thursday have brought the territories one step closer to a full-blown civil war.
One daily warns that a "reckless" and "stupid shedding of the Palestinian blood" threatens to divert the authorities' attention from the most urgent task of restoring security. Another urges Palestinians to stay away from the factional fighting and return to calm and reason.
Elsewhere in the region, an Egyptian daily warns that the infighting could only benefit "the enemies of the Palestinian people".
PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS
The Palestinian people see their great institutions falling apart in front of their eyes and red lines turning into green ones being crossed by reckless people belittling their people and cause. The only red the Palestinians see nowadays is the colour of their blood in the wounded West Bank and bereaved Gaza Strip. A blood that is being so stupidly shed without any excuse or rationale.
YUNIS AL-AMURI IN AL-QUDS
The killings Palestinians are witnessing today have resulted in a polarization of the general political priorities... The Palestinian blood shedding is locked in a cycle of revenge and its extent is getting wider every day. The Palestinian future remains unknown.
JAMIL AL-SALHUT IN AL-HAYAT AL-JADIDAH
The national and Islamic factions are facing a great challenge. They need to try and contain the lawlessness that has started to threaten the lives of innocent people. So will they be up to the task and put an end to this dangerous phenomenon? Will those carrying weapons be checked to see if they are qualified to do so?
RAJAB ABU-SURAYYAH IN AL-AYYAM
We do not know what is happening to us but it is the prelude to a civil war... We are heading fast towards more deterioration and victims unless officials - especially President Mahmoud Abbas as the person holding highest office in the Palestinian Authority - and the government that is responsible for providing security to the people - take action. Otherwise, we will wake up one day to find that our reality is not very far from the realities of Iraq and Somalia.
MUHAMMAD YAGHI IN AL-AYYAM
Civil wars do not start all of a sudden and contending forces do not start madly killing each other in a premeditated way. Instead, civil wars start with an assassination here and another there... It seems neither Fatah nor Hamas have made any effort to find the criminals responsible because each side is trying to deter the other. Evidently, this will only lead to a bigger clash and to attempts by each side to turn the conflict to its advantage.
HAFITH AL-BARGHUTHI in AL-HAYAT AL-JADIDAH
I expect that some people will take to the streets today in support of this or that side after Friday prayers. I do not expect wise men to take part in these processions that pave the way for infighting and feud. I expect our people to spit at these people armed with hatred and call for a return of calm, security and compassion.
EGYPT'S AL-JUMHURIYAH
Current developments show a clear threat of inter-Palestinian fighting, as Egypt appealed via Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit to all Palestinian factions to resort to reason and discard differences and conflicts that will only benefit the enemies of the Palestinian people.