PA: We Can Stop Hamas, But Won’t
Charles Johnson
Tue Oct 1, 2002 at 8:46 am PDT • Views: 162
Brigadier General Muhammad Masri, head of the Political Security Department at the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, openly admits that the PA has the power to stop Hamas from carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians—but they won’t, for political reasons.
“We have enough men and arms, but not political horizon and no incentive, to enter into bloody conflict with other Palestinians,” said Masri from his office at the PA’s GIS building just north of Gaza City.
The PA security establishment sees no compelling reason to confront either Hamas, whose popularity is soaring, or the other Palestinian rejectionist groups. For this reason, Masri does not anticipate the ending of terrorist attacks in Israel in the near future.
Taking on Hamas at this juncture, with January’s Palestinian elections looming, would be political suicide, added the general. “The Palestinian street shows great support for Hamas and other groups opposing the PA, so we prefer to use other, more democratic methods,” he said.
Frank says: