Anyone who's been following the news this week is surely aware of the violence this week between the two Palestinian territories -- Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. The two are increasingly isolated from one another, and the phrase "civil war" is increasingly used to describe the dynamic.

But how, exactly, are the two divided? What is the nature of the division? For those of us who occasionally need a primer on the history, the New York Times' Craig Smith and Greg Myre have a very helpful background piece today, which fleshes out the details.

It's worth checking out.