Hezbollah, Hamas United by Tactics

A woman, one of 650 people taking shelter in a Beirut school during bombing to the south, rushes her sick child out to Red Cross workers. (By Michael Robinson-chavez -- The Washington Post)

Many Palestinians on the street in Gaza said that Hezbollah and Hamas had their own agendas and goals and would not coordinate military operations. And they said the United States and Israel always blamed everything on Iran and Syria, whether they were involved or not.

"It's not a matter of coordination," said Mahei al-Masri, 44, a fruit vendor in Palestinian Square near Gaza's Old City. "What's common here are the goals. Hezbollah wants Lebanese and Arab prisoners freed, and Hamas wants the Palestinian prisoners freed."

"The U.S. accuses the Islamic states of everything that happens here," said Marwa al-Haddad, 34, who was shopping with one of her seven children at the Friday market in the Beach Refugee Camp along the Gaza City coast.

At the same time, some Gazans said they believed Hezbollah launched its operation at least partly to relieve Israeli military pressure on the strip, which has been relatively quiet since the fighting intensified on the Israel-Lebanon border on Thursday.

Ziad Abu Amr, an independent member of the Palestinian legislature who often acts as a mediator between Hamas and other Palestinian groups, said such beliefs were "naive" because Israel could easily fight wars on two fronts. But it was possible, he said, that the problems in the north and the south were linked, because Hamas leaders living outside the Palestinian territories and the leaders of Hezbollah, Iran and Syria all derived much of their influence from continuing instability.

"Iran definitely has some cards to play against America, and they are using Hezbollah and Hamas to that end, to shift the position on nuclear arms," said Eyad Sarraj, a Gazan psychiatrist and human rights activist, referring to U.S. efforts to have the U.N. Security Council impose punitive actions on Iran for not stopping its uranium enrichment program.

Abu Amr made a similar point, saying, "The whole world is focused on the Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon" and not Iran.

Palestinians here said they were happy to have another ally in the fight against their sworn enemy. And few showed any compassion for Israelis seen on televised reports scurrying into shelters as Hezbollah bombs rained down on northern Israel. Ismail Abu Ali Mustafah, an unemployed 58-year-old with two wives and 18 children, said he didn't want to talk about how he felt watching such scenes.

"I have a question for the Israelis now in shelters," he said. "How do you feel when you see Israeli jets bombing our homes and killing our people? Are they human beings and we're not?"

But for Abu Islam, 62, also unemployed and with 12 children, the entire crisis simply underscores how desperate Palestinians have become, and how little weight they carry.

"We have 9,000 men, children and woman in Israeli prisons, and for three Israeli soldiers the whole world is calling for their release, including the U.N. and G-8. And they're soldiers, not innocent civilians," he said. "The world is not hearing the Palestinian cries. No one listens to the weak."

Staff writer Robin Wright in Washington contributed to this report.