Fatah accuses Hamas of plotting to kill Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen. Hamas retorts that Fatah is perpetrating a massacre in the West Bank (of its supporters, presumably) and threatens to round up Fatah people in Gaza (evidently, they have not rounded up everyone yet).

This bickering between the two Palestinian entities is not news. What would be news is for world leaders to stop presuming it will stop or become irrelevant if Israel were to freeze settlements. Again and again, Western leaders raise the settlement issue as an impediment to peace — see German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s latest.

In effect, this insistence is only going to hinder, not favor peace. With Israel’s best friends intent on ganging up against prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu over settlements, Israel’s adversaries are not going to do Israel any favors. Why should the Palestinians make any concession, fulfill any obligation, or take any step forward on the road to reality, given that U.S. and European leaders are busy doing their bidding against Israel?