... oh, er, um, nevermind.

Below the fold:

• Israel Pounds Hamas Targets in Gaza as Factional Fighting Resumes
• When Does the Gaza Conflict Become a Civil War?
• Egypt And Jordan, White Knights

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Israel Pounds Hamas Targets in
Gaza as Factional Fighting Resumes 

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —  Israel pounded Hamas targets with airstrikes Thursday, killing six people and wounding dozens as it stepped into intense fighting between the Islamic militants and the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli attacks followed Hamas rocket barrages on southern Israel.

The strikes made it harder for Hamas gunmen to move around, and prompted accusations — on Hamas Web sites, radio and TV — that Abbas-linked forces are in cahoots with Israel. Hamas contemptuously called Fatah fighters the "Army of Lahad," a reference to a Lebanese general allied with Israel in the past.

Israel unleashed the air campaign — a hit on a Hamas command center, on a trailer housing bodyguards and two vehicles — after Gaza militants fired more than 50 rockets on the Israeli border town of Sderot in three days. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Israel showed "great restraint." ...

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When Does the Gaza Conflict Become a Civil War?
Confederate Yankee

This sure sounds like one to me:

Gaza City was shuttered on Wednesday as gunmen took over rooftops and top-floor apartments. Most everyone else huddled fearfully indoors on the fourth day of factional Palestinian fighting that is drawing in the Israeli military.

At least 19 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday — more than 40 have been killed over the past four days — in fighting between Fatah and Hamas as their unity government fractures and rage rises on both sides.

"We want this to end, because what's happening endangers not just the unity government, but the Palestinian nation and cause," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator and an aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas attacked symbols of Fatah power in Gaza, including the home of the chief security commander. He was not there, but six bodyguards were killed.

The Los Angeles Times report is equally dire:

[...]

Are Palestinians in a civil war?

Wikipedia defines a "civil war" as:

A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power.

Some civil wars are categorized as revolutions when major societal restructuring is a possible outcome of the conflict. An insurgency, whether successful or not, is likely to be classified as a civil war by some historians if, and only if, organized armies fight conventional battles. Other historians state the criterion for a civil war is that there must be prolonged violence between organized factions or defined regions of a country (conventionally fought or not).

The definition provided by Wikipedia is interesting when applied to the quite different conflicts in Iraq and Gaza. ...

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Egypt And Jordan, White Knights
Ed Morrissey

As Gaza spirals into the civil war that should surprise no one who has paid attention since the Palestinian Authority elections last year, some in the international community have finally figured out the obvious: the Palestinians are completely incapable of self-government. For the first time in decades, whispers of Egyptian and Jordanian custody for the territories have been heard:

Gaza was on the brink of civil war last night as violent clashes between Palestinian factions spiralled out of control.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, threatened to declare a state of emergency today, as fierce fighting raged on the streets.

But as the death toll climbed to more than 40 in four days of the worst fighting since Mr Abbas forged a coalition Government with Fatah’s rival Hamas two months ago, he appeared powerless to stop it.

He can't stop it, because Hamas has no desire to govern. They have no desire to partner with anyone. They want unfettered dictatorial rule over the Palestinian territories, because they want to make war on Israel -- a war that will result in the destruction of one nation or the other. All Abbas can do is to declare a state of emergency and try to regain control with his militias, which will exacerbate the conflict and start the civil war in earnest.

Abbas has one more political card to play: the self-destruct sequence for the Palestinian Authority. Once he initiates its collapse, Israel has to administer the territories directly once again, which will add the IDF to the civil war and create absolute chaos in both Gaza and the West Bank. If Hamas wants a civil war, Abbas can give it to them in spades -- but that may be the only viable solution: ...

See also: Uncle Jimbo, Jules Crittenden