Hamas are looking comfortably in charge of their half of Gaza

Gaza is currently split into two near-equal halves, with the south controlled and occupied by Israeli troops and the rest, about 48 per cent, looking every day like a state run by Hamas gunmen. They are everywhere in the streets, ruthlessly enforcing their brand of security and clearly happy to wave their guns at the locals to keep them under their control. Or, to put it anpother way, to keep them in constant fear. Gaza is a grim place and will remain so for years. King Abdullah of Jordan has told the BBC that there will be no international peacekeeping force willing to deploy to Gaza until there is a proper peace, or at least no violence. Judging by the frequent breaches of the ceasefire, this is going to take a long time. But the truth is, until an international largely Muslim force arrives in the territory, the threat of new outbreaks of violence is not going to go away. Without Hamas in control in central and northern parts of Gaza there would be anarchy, but with Hamas in charge it shows that the threat this terror organisation poses is still very real. They have weapons to attack the Israelis, and hundreds of new recruits released from Israeli jails in exchange for dead Israeli hostages. So, despite King Abdullah's doubts, Hamas's presence in Gaza should be replaced by an international force as soon as possible, and the thousands of Hamas fighters milling around on the streets need to be disarmed and sent into exile.