'Political obscenity' in Gaza

London-based Asharq Al Awsat described the Palestinian fighting between Fatah and Hamas supporters in Gaza as a "political obscenity" by both sides as the battles have even reached hospitals and war crimes are being committed.

The Saudi-owned daily said Hamas is not, and will not be, a government because it is a religious trend ruled by ideology, not by politics.

"Hamas did not come to lighten hope, but to declare jihad; but against whom? Against Fatah," it claimed in a commentary. Those who come to power by the people are not supposed to become the peoples' masters and are not spokesmen for God, it said, insisting that a prime minister should not address people during Friday prayers from mosques, but from government buildings.

The daily, distributed in many Arab capitals, said internal violence and crises in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon are all linked, adding it is the "same hand that moves and finances, although the victims are different," but it did not name who it believes is responsible.

Instead of wasting time on calming down the fighting, it argued, deep-rooted solutions must be found, starting with drying up the funding and arming and ending external interferences. Hamas has to choose between behaving as a militia or a government that is responsible for the nation and its people, it said.