THE COMING CIVIL WAR: IRAN BACK HAMAS; SAUDIS BACK FATAH

One Step Away from Palestinian Civil War - Danny Rubenstein
The incidents in Rafah on Thursday were further proof that Hamas and Fatah are in the midst of a violent confrontation that is one step away from spiraling into civil war. Palestinian sources say that Saudi Arabia has promised Abbas funds that will allow him to pay salaries and build his military force. Abbas will not order the dissolution of the current Palestinian government before he and his supporters are confident in their power to deal with Hamas, in the street and at the polls, and this will not occur for some months. (Ha'aretz)

High Noon in Ramallah - Avi Issacharoff
About 330 Palestinians have been killed by Palestinians since the start of 2006 in the West Bank and Gaza. On Wednesday in Ramallah in the West Bank, several Hamas activists who were hanging pictures of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on walls in the city encountered some members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades - the military arm of Fatah - led Khaled Shawish. The Fatah people shot at the knees of one of the Hamas men, abducted his colleagues, and brought them to a PA jail. But Hamas knows that in military conflict against Fatah in Gaza, it will have the upper hand. Hamas has formed a strategic alliance with the "Persians," as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has called them. Senior Hamas people have been declared unwelcome not only in Jordan - where they have organized terror cells - but also in Saudi Arabia. (Ha'aretz)