More from the Middle East

So not only has Hamas kidnapped a 19 year-old soldier, it now appears that the Palestinian Resistance Committees (PRC) have kidnapped an 18 year-old settler in revenge for targeted killing of its leadership by the IDF.

With the soldier, Palestinian Chairman Abbas is telling his PM (a Hamas member) that he'll be targeted by the Israelis along with the rest of his terrorist bretheren. Why Hamas carries out such actions is beyond me, the constant infighting in the Palestinian territories have shown an inability for self-government. Israel, in my eyes, has effectively a carte blanche to not only get these two hostages back, but also punish those responsible. For those who think otherwise, would you argue that the United States shouldn't do such things when their soldiers are on the line?

In an NYT article, Rice urges Israel to hold back and try diplomacy, though whether that's viable with two lives on the line is debatable. Hamas is also arguing that they have two separate political and military wings (a typical setup in such organizations, including the IRA), a sort of "left hand doesn't know what the right is doing" though the Times notes that 10 days ago, a Hamas spokesperson "insisted that Hamas was one organization with a single leadership, making decisions collectively." With Hamas now running the Palestinian government, such coordinated attacks would mean that even the highest levels of the PA are culpable and should be subject to reprisals. (Note how the Times never uses the word terrorist to describe the kidnappers or Hamas as a whole...typical.)

The Jerusalem Post editorializes that Israel must raise the ante for Palestinian aggression and "[t]he price to be exacted must necessarily combine military and non-military actions by Israel, preferably supported and supplemented by sanctions imposed by the international community. Israel should stress to foreign governments that such a combination of Israeli and international action would, by far, be most effective at preventing further Palestinian attacks and eliminating the necessity for further Israeli defensive measures. But if necessary, Israel must be prepared singlehandedly to raise the price of attacking us to prohibitive levels - even if the Quartet is not helpful, and even if it is partially working at cross purposes." Hear hear.

UPDATE
In what might be a blatant attempt to stave off an Israeli response (perhaps an acknowledgement of a serious miscalculation), Hamas and Fatah have agreed on a plan that will implicitly recognize Israel. The recognition would call for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, hardly a strong statement. Maybe it's time for Israel to make a counter-offer: full, explicit recognition and the return of the hostages in exchange for only striking at those directly responsible for the kidnappings?