Some of the condemnatory language flowing out of the international community is finally looking commensurate with the appalling tactics employed by Israel's government and military in the Gaza Strip. Direct reprisals against civilians and other forms of collective punishment are war crimes, after all, regardless of whether or not the perpetrator has deigned to sign that part of the Geneva Conventions defining them as such. But it is not enough for outside powers to summon the courage to speak out against Israeli abuses. The more important goal is for Palestinians themselves to recognize the true target of the onslaught - their ability and willingness to restore a united front in the face of occupation.

What better incentive could Hamas and Fatah, the two main players in the Palestinian power struggle, have than Israel's depredations in both of their respective strongholds, Gaza and the West Bank (but especially the former), as an incentive to set aside their differences? Right now they disagree vehemently, but mostly over which of them is to blame for the meltdown that resulted in Hamas' takeover of Gaza last year. However, their core dispute is largely over semantics: Fatah favors negotiations with Israel to end the occupation, while Hamas prefers rhetorical resistance combined with a long-term cease-fire to see where the talks might go.

What both positions have in common is their vulnerability to Israeli pressure, particularly if the two sides are at each other's throats. Even now, Hamas cannot feed the innocent civilians under its authority, let alone mount an effective defense against Israeli attacks. The longer the Islamist group continues to stand alone, the more desperate Gaza's situation will become. Similarly, Fatah loyalists cannot even credibly police the West Bank because their security forces operate on Israeli leashes, a fact that further undermines the party's standing to negotiate on behalf of the general population. In other words, the status quo strengthens only Israeli hard-liners determined to either scuttle the peace process or impose a lopsided deal by defeating, in detail, any and all worthy advocates of Palestinian rights.

If the past few years have demonstrated anything, it is that Hamas is no better at fighting than Fatah is at negotiating. Each has much to learn from the other, but the real lesson comes from the Israelis. The latter, one will recall, enjoy a boisterous political environment that invites virtually all manner of internal debate - but when facing (or seeking) an external challenge they tend to circle their wagons, or at least to refrain from anything more than verbal jousting. If and when the Palestinians resolve to do the same, the positions of Fatah and Hamas will not look nearly so far apart - and the end of occupation will look more like a goal than a fantasy.