The Palestinian Legislative Council will not vote on the Election Law today, three months before the date on which elections had been scheduled, thus that the elections will have to be postponed. PA laws state that three months must pass from the time the Election Law is passed until the election is held.
PA officials claim that the delay is technical in nature, but Hamas spokesmen say that the ruling Fatah movement is simply scared to lose. Polls show that Hamas' electoral support is increasing significantly. A public opinion survey conducted two weeks ago by the Al-Mustiqbal Center in Gaza showed a 4-1 margin of support for Hamas over Fatah.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahari said that the postponement of the elections will force Hamas and the other terror organizations to reconsider the understandings recently reached in Cairo regarding the temporary halt to the terrorist war against Israel.
Hamas commitments to the ceasefire were never ironclad - at least according to the organization's leader in Damascus, Khaled Mashal. Ynet reports a MEMRI account to the effect that Mashal, who heads Hamas' diplomatic desk, recently told a Cairo audience, "The present calm in the territories is merely a trick... The resistance [terrorism against Israel - ed.] will continue as long as the conquest lasts."
An IDF soldier sustained light wounds today when a Palestinian terrorist sniper fired at his army base in southern Gaza. The victim was taken to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. Earlier this morning, armed Arabs fired at another IDF position on the Israeli-Egyptian border; no one was hurt.
Anti-Israel tensions exist in Gaza on another front as well. Today is Prisoners' Day, with some 500 terrorist prisoners Israeli jails threatening a hunger strike unless they are freed. Thousands of supporters of the Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas terror groups rallied yesterday in Gaza for this cause. Carrying weapons and grenades, they threatened to kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians and hold them hostage until the Arab prisoners are released.
PA officials claim that the delay is technical in nature, but Hamas spokesmen say that the ruling Fatah movement is simply scared to lose. Polls show that Hamas' electoral support is increasing significantly. A public opinion survey conducted two weeks ago by the Al-Mustiqbal Center in Gaza showed a 4-1 margin of support for Hamas over Fatah.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahari said that the postponement of the elections will force Hamas and the other terror organizations to reconsider the understandings recently reached in Cairo regarding the temporary halt to the terrorist war against Israel.
Hamas commitments to the ceasefire were never ironclad - at least according to the organization's leader in Damascus, Khaled Mashal. Ynet reports a MEMRI account to the effect that Mashal, who heads Hamas' diplomatic desk, recently told a Cairo audience, "The present calm in the territories is merely a trick... The resistance [terrorism against Israel - ed.] will continue as long as the conquest lasts."
An IDF soldier sustained light wounds today when a Palestinian terrorist sniper fired at his army base in southern Gaza. The victim was taken to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. Earlier this morning, armed Arabs fired at another IDF position on the Israeli-Egyptian border; no one was hurt.
Anti-Israel tensions exist in Gaza on another front as well. Today is Prisoners' Day, with some 500 terrorist prisoners Israeli jails threatening a hunger strike unless they are freed. Thousands of supporters of the Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas terror groups rallied yesterday in Gaza for this cause. Carrying weapons and grenades, they threatened to kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians and hold them hostage until the Arab prisoners are released.