Palestinian Authority prepares for war - with Hamas

Few Palestinian Authority officials are expecting anything concrete to emerge from this week's Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, Md. Instead, the talk is of war.

But the primary enemy for many Palestinians is no longer Israel - it is Hamas. Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force in June, supporters of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement have been arrested, humiliated and tortured there by Hamas security forces. Several have been killed, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and other agencies.

Many Palestinians fear that Hamas could stage a similar coup in the West Bank, where Fatah retains control. The rival factions always have disagreed over policy toward Israel, with Hamas refusing to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist while Fatah favors peace talks. As Fatah seeks to negotiate an end to decades of fighting, its supporters fear that Hamas and its allies risk a civil war that will condemn the Palestinian people to permanent conflict.

To combat the threat, the Palestinian Authority has created an elite new counterterror unit. Officers from the unit are currently attending a monthlong training course in Moscow hosted by counterterror experts from Russian intelligence. More...