Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has been on something of a media blitz lately.
He sat down with the BBC's Arabic service yesterday -- video is embedded after the jump -- and claimed that Israel is negotiating with Hamas to create a Palestinian state with temporary borders. Hamas has denied the allegation; Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the group, said Abbas is "putting his personal political failure on Hamas."
While Fatah is focused on politics, Hamas is focused on another allegedly-imminent war with Israel. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the group, said Israel is trying to "justify a new aggression" in Gaza.
Barhoum seems to be responding to Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF's chief of staff, who said yesterday that Israel would launch a sequel to Operation Cast Lead unless people stop firing rockets from Gaza.
As I mentioned earlier, a Qassam rocket from Gaza landed in southern Israel yesterday -- at the same time Ashkenazi was giving his speech. Israeli media have recently been reporting that Hamas has new rockets with a 60-kilometer range, which would put Tel Aviv within range. Israeli intelligence claims the rockets came from Iran, though they haven't provided any proof.
