Israel Saves Abbas

The government of Israel thwarted a plan by Hamas to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas:

A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.

Abbas, who became president of the Palestinian Authority last year after the death of Yasser Arafat, was formally warned of the danger by the Israelis and cancelled a planned visit to the territory.

The murder plan is the clearest sign yet of the tensions inside the Palestinian Authority between Hamas, which swept to power after elections in January, and Abbas’s Fatah movement.

Hamas leaders, who refuse to recognise the state of Israel, suspect Abbas of obstructing their attempts to govern, which have been hampered by a financial boycott from donor nations. “Hamas considers Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him,” said a Palestinian source who was an adviser to Arafat and is a close acquaintance of Abbas.

Abbas and Fatah are in a precarious position. With the election of Hamas and the subsequent reining in of funds to run the so-called government, Hamas is pushed in a corner that will be disastrous to Fatah. The more radical Islamic groups such as al-Qaeda and Hizbollah are waiting for Hamas to gain power and money.

By taking out Abbas, Hamas could've blamed Israel and taken total control of Palestinian affairs. While I'm not a fan of Abbas per se, he is the only PA leader with a shred of credibility and one who may have the political stones to negotiate with Israel. Doubtful, yet possible.

Update: Help is on the way for Hamas:

DOHA (AFP) - Islamic scholars are to meet in Doha next week to draw up a fatwa, or religious edict, obliging the Muslim faithful to help the internationally isolated Palestinian government headed by Hamas.

Influential cleric Yussef al-Qardawi said the May 10-11 meeting would help both the Palestinian people and their government, hit hard by US and EU funding cuts because of the Islamist faction's refusal to recognize Israel.

Ulemas (scholars) as well as other Muslim and Palestinian leaders will "draw up a fatwa on the duty of the ummah (Muslims) and of governments" toward the Palestinians and the Hamas cabinet, Qardawi told a press conference Saturday.

The fatwa will refer to financial aid to the Palestinians as well as offering them moral support, Qardawi said.