When the Cat’s Away
The terrorist rats are coming out of their basements: Hamas’ Secretive Military Wing Emerges.
JERUSALEM - Hamas’ secretive military wing emerged from hiding Saturday, naming commanders and detailing how they attacked Israelis as part of a competition with the Palestinian Authority over who will get credit for Israel’s pullout from Gaza.
The battle over public opinion could determine who rules Gaza after the last Israeli soldiers leave on Sept. 15. Hamas says it drove Israel out with attacks, while Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas credits his nonviolent approach. [Uh huh. Sure he does. —ed.]
On Saturday, a defiant Hamas delivered a new challenge to Abbas, who has come under increasing international pressure to disarm the group after the Israeli pullout, but is reluctant to do so.
On its Web site, the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, laid bare its command structure for the first time, posting names of seven top operatives, along with photos, biographies and interviews. One of the commanders said the group had more volunteers for suicide missions than he could dispatch.
Hamas is also printing tens of thousands of flyers with the content of the Web site, to be distributed in coming days in mosques and at rallies.