June 6, 2006:
Hamas continues to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist, so the Fatah president of the Palestinian Authority will set a date for a referendum, in the next month or two, on the matter. Hamas can still oppose that, even though opinion polls show that the referendum would pass, and recognize Israel. At this point it's all about deadlock, with 70,000 unpaid government security personnel wandering around, angry and broke. Hamas attempts to put their own security personnel onto the streets has met with daily violence. It's worse than civil war, it's chaos.
June 5, 2006: Two Palestinian banks in Gaza were attacked by unpaid government workers, and forced to close. Hamas deployed thousands of armed security troops in Gaza, making more armed clashes with Fatah security forces likely.
June 4, 2006: Partial payment ($330) for one month's salary was made to the 40,000 lowest paid of the 167,000 Palestinian government workers who have not been paid in over three months. Violence in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah left five dead.
June 2, 2006: Three Egyptian security men crossed into Israeli territory at dawn. Israeli troops fired back, killing two of the Egyptians. The Arab media promptly claimed that the Egyptians were killed in Egypt, then dragged into Israel. The bodies were given to Egyptian territory.
June 1, 2006: In Gaza, Hamas and Fatah gunmen continued to skirmish with each other, causing several casualties each day. A mob of unpaid security men attacked the Parliament building and vandalized it.
May 31, 2006: Israeli troops entered northern Gaza and attacked a Palestinian crew preparing to fire rockets into Israel. Three Palestinians were killed. Three more Palestinians died during police raids on the West Bank. In Gaza, Hamas and Gaza gunmen clashed several times.
May 30, 2006: A British aid worker was expelled from Israel for assisting terrorists. It's become increasingly common for NGOs to assist terrorists without participating directly in their attacks. Many European NGO workers are very pro-Palestinian, and anti-Israel.
