West Bank Protests Show Support for Hamas, Not Abbas

34 killed in Gaza; Israel considers latest ceasefire offer
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2012 8:28 PM CST
West Bank Protests Show Support for Hamas, Not Abbas
Birds fly as a plume of smoke is seen over central Gaza Strip, after an airstrike by Israeli forces, as seen from the Israel Gaza border, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Daily demonstrations in the West Bank show increasing support for Hamas and appear to undermine the more moderate power of the Palestinian Authority, the New York Times reports. "Strike a blow on Tel Aviv!" declared a pop song playing from stores during a protest today. "Don’t let the Zionists sleep!" Such rapport with the militant aims of Hamas would spell greater insecurity for Israel, the Times notes—although President Mahmoud Abbas' plan to seek statehood at the UN has already drawn the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In other news on the conflict:

  • Israel's diplomatic and security cabinet held off a ground invasion for another day and met tonight to consider the latest ceasefire offers from Hamas, an official tells the Jerusalem Post.
  • Four top Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed in an Israeli attack on a building in downtown Gaza City that also housed foreign and local news organizations, Ynet News reports. That air strike and another in Gaza left several journalists injured, reports Al Jazeera. Israel denied that it was targeting journalists.
  • Today was the deadliest in Gaza so far, with 34 reported killed, the Guardian reports. That brings the Gaza death toll to 109, including 11 women and 26 children. An Israeli air strike on a home in the Jibaliya refugee camp left four dead in the same family, including two toddlers.
  • 140 rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel, some landing near an empty school in Ashkelon. A woman was lightly wounded in a separate rocket attack.
  • A CNN/ORC poll shows that 57% of Americans support Israel's military campaign, but that breaks down along party lines, with 40% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans, and 59% of independents in support, Ynet News reports.
(More Israel and Palestinians stories.)

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