...Z., a Fatah leader in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, says that nothing has changed since the creation of the national-unity government. "The abductions, the assassinations, the shooting, everything is still gong on," he says. "I don't think things will change even after the new government has had a chance to establish itself."

Z. told Haaretz he believed the worst was yet to come. "Pretty soon there will be militants in each and every junction. Everybody knows who's holding Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent kidnapped two weeks ago. It's a large family, and they're after money. Instead of surrounding the premises and acting against them, the security forces are negotiating with them," he complains. "Breaking in their will cost lives, but there's no alternative. You have to move in with force to restore order."

What Z. doesn't say is that all the large organizations, Fatah included, are trying to dissuade the renowned family from joining the rival faction. Foreign journalists who have been kidnapped and then released by the family say they were treated in an especially demeaning manner. They go on to say that the Iraqi influence was obvious in the clothing of their captors, their language and their methods of handling prisoners, including forced conversions to Islam...