Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

    by Saud Abu Ramadan

    GAZA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Commenting on the results of the Israeli elections held on Tuesday, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Wednesday that the Israeli people have elected three heads of terrorism.

    The Palestinian movement was surprised from the elections results, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Xinhua in a telephone interview, adding that the winners are Tzipi Livni, Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman.

    "This indicates that the Zionist community has chosen those who are most radical and most terrorists. We are now facing three heads of radicalism and terror," said Barhoum.

    Hamas, which is listed by Israel, Europe and the United States as a terrorist organization, has been ruling the Gaza Strip since June 2007 after it routed moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.

    "The most dangerous thing in this respect is the dramatic development into the internal Zionist policy, where a group of terrorist gangs like Shtern and the Hagana (two groups considered as terrorist organizations by the British mandate before the Israeli state was established), had finally turned into political parties," said Barhoum.

    Israel had carried out a large-scale 22-day military assault on the Hamas-controlled enclave. The assault was ended when Israel and Gaza militant groups declared a fragile unilateral ceasefire.

    "All the Zionist leaders had employed the Gaza case, as well as the war on Hamas movement and the case of (Gilad) Shalit to kill the highest figures of our children in order to harvest the highest votes," said Barhoum.

    A Hamas delegation is in Cairo to reinforce a longer term truce mediated by Egypt with Israel. Hamas said it accepted a one-and-a-half year truce in condition of ending the blockade and opening Gaza border crossings.

    "If any government, no matter who will be leading it, wants a Tahde'aa (truce), we are ready for it to end the siege, end the military aggression on our people and reopen the border crossings, mainly Rafah crossing with Egypt," said Barhoum.

    However, Palestinian analysts could differentiate between those who won and those who lost in the Israeli elections.

    Mkheimer Abu Se'da, a Palestinian political analyst from Gaza said that it is obvious that the success of Tzipi Livni, which wasruled out in front of the right-wing, has removed the fears that the Likud would be the winner.

    "It also removed the fear that a far-right wing government headed by the Likud party would include the radical anti-Arab leader of 'Israel Beiteino' Avigdor Lieberman," he added.

    Abu Se'da expected that Kadima would succeed to form a national unity government "that would include the Labor party of Ehud Barakand other small parties without the Likud or Lieberman who would remain in the opposition."

    "Having Kadima on the top of the parties in Israel is something positive. However, the results had also shown that the right-wing is in a better position than the Labor party who is the only looser in this election."

    Barak, the defense minister in the acting Israeli government, was behind waging the war on Gaza, where around 1,400 people were killed and 5,500 wounded.

    "I believe that the reason behind the Labor's defeat is that Barak wasted many opportunities of peace and that was one of the reasons who urged many Labor party historic leaders to migrate to Kadima," said the analyst.

    In Gaza, the poor and war-torn people see no difference between a right or a left wing party in Israel. All of them agreed that all what they want is to live in peace and improve their living conditions.

    Nidal Shaladan, 36, a taxi driver from Gaza City, said, "These parties have nearly similar programs and agendas that are mainly meant to create more sufferings and agonies to the Palestinian people and kill any hope for them to have their independent state."

    Ayyoub Aldabba, 54-year-old unemployed Gazan, also said he saw no difference between Kadima and Likud, adding he preferred Kadima because it was a bit moderate than the other parties.

    "Of course Livni is not good, but she is better than Netanyahu or Barak, I understand she played a main role in the war against Gaza, but in my point of view, that war was so vague, and there are other parties to blame," Aldabba said.

    "I think she is ready to make peace with the Palestinians and an agreement might be reached if she managed to form a government," he said.