A year after war, Israel and Hamas confront joint threat of IS-inspired militants

Fox News ^ | June 21, 2015

[McGruff]

Nearly a year after a devastating war, Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers appear to have formed an unspoken alliance in a common battle against the shared threat of jihadis aligned with the Islamic State group.

While Israel and Hamas remain arch-enemies, both have an interest in preserving an uneasy calm that has prevailed since the fighting ended in a cease-fire last August -- a stalemate that is largely the result of a lack of options on either side.

[McGruff]

What's that saying about the enemy of my enemy...

[McGruff]

In the short run, the biggest threat to the quiet is a small but growing number of extremists in Gaza inspired by the Islamic State group, who have fired rockets across the heavily guarded frontier in order to undermine Hamas. The militants believe Hamas is soft on Israel and has failed to establish an Islamic state.

[lbryce]

The irony of the Middle East. Present adversaries have no choice but to become unwilling allies to fight a common foe.

[Netz]

Yeah, but in the Middle East, it’s the enemy of my enemy of my enemy’s enemy that is my friend but tomorrow, my enemy...

the only real problem is that BHO has defined Israel as an enemy even though they ARE AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN OUR ONLY RELIABLE, UNSHAKABLE ALLY IN THE REGION. Plus, they share our Western Democratic values...

[Ancesthntr]

Politics makes for some awfully strange bedfellows...especially in the M.E., which has the world’s strangest politics from the beginning

[SunkenCiv]

• ISIS Threatens to Destroy 'Heretical Hamas' [2015]
• ISIS Issues Dire Warning To Israel [Psalms 83] [2015]
• Hamas to Israel: ISIS-linked Rebels Trying to Spark Conflict Between Us [2015]
  • Rocket sirens sound in Israel's south, explosion heard [2015]
  • BREAKING: ISIS Moves Assets to Southern Syria -- Gaza ISIS Launches MISSILE ATTACK on Israel [2015]
  • BREAKING: Southern Israel Attacked By Rockets, IDF Retaliation Expected [2015]
  • 'Red Alert' Siren Sounds in Southern Israel [2015]
• UN Official Wants IDF on Terror List with ISIS, Taliban & Boko Haram [2015]
• NGO Monitor Unveils EU's Biased Role in the Peace Process (Israel) [2015]
• Hamas Wants Reparations from UK for Israel [2015]
  • Amnesty International Denounces Hamas War Crimes [2015]
  • Hamas Executed Palestinians During Israel War: Amnesty [2015]
• Gazans Upset with UNRWA Aid to Brethern in Syria [2015]
• Israel's Great Opportunity [2015]
  • Hezbollah recruits non-Shiites for ISIS fight [2015]
  • Iraqi Shiite militia commander threatens to attack US [2015]
• Former Imam Of Mecca's Grand Mosque: There Is No Escaping Reform To Bring Islam Back...[taqiyya] [2015]
• What I learned about Bernie Sanders [2015]
• [German FM] Steinmeier: Gaza is a 'powder keg' (so solution = open borders??) [2015]
• Common Core teaches kids to 'divide Jerusalem' [Joel 3] [2015]
• Common Core-Approved Workshop Teaches Sympathy for Hamas [2015]
• The state of Palestine? Still mired in Jew hatred [2015]
  • Carter causes consternation with election call for Palestinian Arabs [2015]
  • Who Is Blocking Palestinian Elections? [2015]
  • PA Crackdown on Hamas-Aligned Students [2015]
  • In Sign of Palestinians' Mood, Hamas Wins Vote at a West Bank University [2015]
  • Homicide Rate Four Times Higher in Palestinian Authority Than in Israel [2015]
• Obama's Faith in anti-Semites and the Cost [2015]
• 49% of Israelis: Obama Purposely Harming US-Israel Ties [2015]
• Obama: No, Iran Won't Be More Dangerous with $150 Billion Dollars [2015]
  • Netanyahu: Iran the 'greatest threat' to world peace [2015]
  • Netanyahu: Iran leading a campaign of 'conquest and subversion' around Israel's borders (Video) [2015]
  • US report finds Iran threat undiminished as nuke deal nears [2015]
  • Massive Iran gathering warns of bad nuclear deal with Iran [2015]
  • An Iranian crowd eager for democracy in Iran [2015]

[grania]

It would be very good if everyone united at least for awhile to stop civilization-ending ISIS. That would be easier if the US would stop funding, training, and arming them. Then maybe they could draw up some borders without our "help".

Is there any evidence that we've done anything worthwhile in the ME, considering the mess that's followed US initiatives?