New fighting in southern Gaza

Times:

Israeli tanks advanced into the Gaza Strip yesterday as the worst clashes in 14 months erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters.

Both sides blamed each other for triggering the violence, in which two Israeli soldiers and several Palestinians were killed.

After the initial fighting, five Israeli tanks and two armoured bulldozers advanced from the east firing shells at targets near the town of Khan Younis.

Witnesses near the scene said the sounds of gunfire abated an hour before midnight but the tanks were still in place, firing occasional rounds. Residents were fearful of a bigger Israeli incursion, and evacuation warnings were given.

...

The killing of the two Israeli soldiers was celebrated in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday by supporters of Hamas, the militant Islamist group that has ruled the enclave since 2007.

The fighting comes after a resurgence in rocket fire from Gaza, which has been claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked group that views Hamas as too moderate.

...

When you have a group that thinks the Hamas death cult is "too moderate" it explains why the chances of a peace agreement with the Palestinians are so remote. Fatah cannot control Hamas and Hamas cannot control the al Qaeda affiliate, so any promise that any of them make of peace with Israel is illusory at best.

This is why the current Obama obsession with new construction in Jerusalem is such a fools errand.

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