There's a general strike on in Bethlehem today because of the 19 people killed in Gaza yesterday. Most of the shops on the main street are closed today, and those that are open have only one of their shutters open so that they look mostly closed. George at the supermarket said that one of the top Hamas guys in Gaza lost two sons in the attack yesterday, though I read an article that says only one of his sons was killed. ( http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hf4YYgkM1f8SKSsRIunj0gtS-PJQ)
The article also mentions a sniper from Gaza killing an Israeli civilian across the border, and Hamas's armed wing launching a load of rockets into Israel, but it doesn't say if one incident preceded another, or what.
I went to a talk last night by Sam Bahour, a self-described "business activist" who touched on the danger of separating the West Bank and Gaza not only in the international mindset, but in the Palestinian mindset as well. Gaza is in dire circumstances (daily incursions by the Israeli army, food and energy shortages, complete border closure) and if the West Bank gives up on it in order to save itself (in international negotiations, a blunt summary is that Fatah rules the West Bank and gets the carrot, while Hamas rules Gaza and is getting the stick), then what happens to the million people living there?
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