Armed Palestinians are concentrating their attacks on Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas. The Israeli settlers are seen as the main obstacle to a peace settlement and the most anti-Palestinian Israelis. Meanwhile, those Palestinians who have organized and led armed groups against the Israelis are gaining political power at the expense of long time Palestinian leader Arafat. The new Palestinian leaders include a number who are violently opposed to the corrupt way that Arafat's group governs. All this could lead to a civil war among the Palestinians, with or without an Israeli  peace agreement.