GAZA - DAY TWO

Posted at 8:14 a.m. ET:

The Israeli operation in Gaza becomes more intriguing.  It no longer looks like a one-dimensional retaliation for Hamas rocket fire.  It looks like an attempt to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza - which seized control of the Gaza Strip by force - and replace it with the more moderate Palestinian Authority.

Despite the pro forma statements from Arab capitals, and their amen corner in the world's leftist precincts, other Arab statements are remarkable for what they say and don't say.  The Jerusalem Post reports:

Hamas could have prevented the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo.

"We spoke to them and told them 'Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,'" Abbas said during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas called on Hamas to renew the cease-fire with Israel to avoid further bloodshed in Gaza.

Hmm.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the "dear Palestinian brothers."

And the foreign minister of Egypt, the most important Arab country, weighed in:

Aboul Gheit also attacked Hamas, saying the group had prevented people wounded in the Israeli offensive from passing into Egypt to receive medical attention.

"We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to reach Egypt. They aren't being allowed to go through," he said.

Asked who was to blame for the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister replied: "Ask the party that controls Gaza."

No one is suggesting that these two worthies have become instant Zionists.  But their statements are stunning.  Clearly, neither has much use for Hamas.

This is speculation, but I wonder whether this whole Israeli operation is being coordinated with Washington, and even with the Obama people.  If Obama comes in and Hamas is driven from Gaza, his job in Middle East negotiations becomes that much easier. 

We'll see.  This could be a decisive moment, unless the rug is pulled out from beneath Israel by the usual forces of "realism" - read that "defeat" - in Western foreign ministries. 

December 28, 2008.