Hamas Regime: Time for Talks or More Terror?

June 15, 2007 — -- The specter of hooded gunmen from Hamas taking over the office of defeated moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spurred one Gaza citizen to say, "I see Iraq here."

Hamas, which does not believe in the right of Israel to exist, has effectively taken control of Gaza.

Calm appears to be returning to the area today, but a state of emergency remains in effect after Hamas fighters seized control of the territory from Fatah forces, in violence that claimed more than 90 lives.

Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist and author of "The World Is Flat," said it was too soon to tell whether Hamas' political takeover could ignite more conflict in the Middle East.

"Hamas is now in charge of Gaza. For the first time it will have the burden of responsibility of the citizens of Gaza," Friedman said today on "Good Morning America." "It will be very interesting, to me, at least, to see how they respond to that, because from this day forward, if the sun doesn't shine, the water doesn't flow, the wind doesn't blow, it will be Hamas' fault."

Friedman said now that Hamas was in power, it might force its leaders and Israel to the table for diplomatic discussions.

"I don't know how productive it would be at this stage, but we have to remember … the United States sponsored and encouraged an election in the Palestinian area 16 months ago," Friedman said. "And then the United States, Israel and Fatah did everything they could not to allow them to come to power."

But the Middle East could also be entering a whole new world of radicalism, Friedman said. On Wednesday, Israeli security forces arrested a pregnant Palestinian mother of eight and her niece, also a mother, as they attempted to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel.

"I think what we've seen in the past decade of this suicide bombing is that it gradually destroys your own society, as much as it wrecks the other," Friedman said.

In a March 24 column, Friedman wrote about a Muslim suicide bomber who had detonated a bomb at a Muslim funeral.

"I think what we're seeing here is a breakdown of norms," Friedman said. "It doesn't surprise me because when norms break down, anything goes. Look what happened in Iraq just the other day. A mosque that had already been blown up — a Shiite shrine — is blown up again just to finish it off."