Weaker Hamas retains support
Hamas turned one of its most painful setbacks in four years of fighting with Israel into a macabre popularity festival Tuesday, as 30,000 Palestinians participated in the funerals of 14 militants taken by surprise on their training ground by Israeli helicopter gunships. In a sense, it was a nonviolent – though armed – Hamas takeover of Gaza’s streets, with youths planting the green Hamas flag above electricity poles and hanging from the sides of packed trucks, as marchers carried the corpses on stretchers and masked gunmen fired off shots in tributes to the dead.Full Story