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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/14/212757.shtml?s=os
Abbas Dissolves Palestinian Government
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, June 15, 2007
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
declared a state of emergency and disbanded the Hamas-led unity government
after the Islamic militant group vanquished its Fatah rivals and effectively
took control of the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Fearful that Hamas' momentum could spread to the West Bank, Fatah went on
the offensive there, rounding up three dozen Hamas fighters. Angry militants
threw office furniture out a third-story window of the Palestinian
parliament building in Ramallah, then set fire to the office of three Hamas
lawmakers. A Hamas activist was shot and killed in Nablus, the first person
to be killed in the West Bank after days of violence in Gaza; the Al Aqsa
Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, claimed responsibility.
In Gaza, it was a day of major victories for Hamas and its backers in Iran
and Syria - and of devastating setbacks for the Western-backed Fatah. In one
particularly humiliating scene, masked Hamas fighters marched agents of the
once-feared Preventive Security Service out of their headquarters, arms
raised in the air, stripped to the waist and ducking at the sound of a
gunshot.
"The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived," Hamas spokesman Islam
Shahawan said.
The violence has killed at least 90 people in the past five days, including
33 on Thursday alone. Witnesses, Fatah officials and a doctor reported
executions by Hamas militants of defeated Fatah fighters Thursday; Fatah
said seven of its men were shot in the head gangland-style. Hamas denied any
such killings.
Abbas, of Fatah, fired the Hamas prime minister and said he would install a
new government, replacing the Hamas-Fatah coalition formed just three months
ago. Abbas' decrees, which he issued in Ramallah, won't reverse the Hamas
takeover of Gaza. Instead, his moves will enable Fatah to consolidate its
control over the West Bank, likely paving the way for two separate
Palestinian governments.
At a news conference in Gaza City early Friday, deposed Palestinian Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh rejected Abbas' declaration, calling it "hasty" and
saying he would maintain the unity government. Haniyeh said the situation
was "not suitable for unilateral decisions."
He said the Hamas militia would impose law and order "firmly, decisively and
legally." He also rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in Gaza only, run
by Hamas.
In Damascus, one of the exiled leaders of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, also
rejected setting up an Islamic state there. "Gaza will remain Gaza and there
will be no changes in its future and will continue to be linked to the West
Bank," he said.
But because Fatah has recognized Israel's right to exist and signed on to
past peace agreements, the international community's boycott of the
Palestinian territories in the wake of Hamas' electoral successes may no
longer apply to the West Bank - just to Gaza. Some 2 million Palestinians
live in the West Bank, while 1.4 million reside in Gaza.
Fatah's old demons - corruption, petty quarreling, lack of leadership - led
to its dismal performance in Gaza. While disciplined Hamas systematically
hoarded weapons, Fatah's Gaza leader, Mohammed Dahlan, preferred travel and
West Bank politics to preparing for the inevitable showdown with the Islamic
militants. Dahlan returned Thursday from Egypt, where he stayed several
weeks after knee surgery. But instead of going to Gaza, he headed for
Ramallah.
Many West Bank Palestinians, watching the fall of Gaza on their TV screens,
pinned the blame on Abbas, whom they see as indecisive and detached. During
Hamas's assaults in Gaza this week, no prominent Fatah leader was in the
coastal strip to take command.
"Hamas has leadership, a goal, an ideology and funding," said Gaza analyst
Talal Okal. "Fatah has neither leadership, nor a goal, a vision or money."
By capturing Gaza City's three main security compounds and the southern town
of Rafah, Hamas secured its hegemony in Gaza, putting Islamic extremists in
control there. The final target for Hamas was Abbas' Gaza City headquarters,
which fell without a fight late Thursday as some officials fled by boat in
the direction of Egypt.
For first time since fighting erupted five days ago, Abbas issued an order
to strike back. But his words were too little, too late.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas' decisions have "no value" on the
ground.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed not to let the takeover of Gaza
spill over into violence against Israel. Some Israelis said only a Gaza
invasion could curb Hamas' military power. But for now, the government seems
more inclined to stay out, fearful of inviting more rocket attacks on
southern Israel.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States
backs Abbas' move. Abbas informed Rice of his decision in a phone call
earlier Thursday.
"President Abbas has exercised his lawful authority as president of the
Palestinian Authority, as leader of the Palestinian people," Rice said. "We
fully support him in his decision to try and end this crisis for the
Palestinian people and to give them an opportunity ... to return to peace
and a better future."
The European Commission, meanwhile, suspended tens of millions of dollars in
humanitarian aid projects in the Gaza Strip because of the escalating
violence, a day after the U.N. announced it would scale back its relief
projects there.
This week's fighting has been the most intense since Hamas won parliamentary
elections last year, setting the stage for a violent power struggle with
Fatah. Hamas reluctantly brought Fatah into the coalition in March to quell
an earlier round of violence, but the uneasy partnership began crumbling
last month over control of the powerful security forces.
No battle was more indicative of Gaza's hatreds and passions than the one at
Preventive Security, one of Fatah's four main security bases in the coastal
strip. After Hamas fighters overran it in a hail of mortar and gunfire
Thursday, they touched their heads to the ground in prayer and marched
vanquished gunmen into the streets shirtless.
Preventive Security carried out a brutal crackdown on Hamas in 1996, and the
militants never forgot it.
"There is a history to it, a vendetta and a settling of scores," said
Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi.
Fatah officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution,
said Hamas shot dead seven Fatah fighters after they had surrendered. A
doctor at Shifa Hospital said he examined two bodies that had been shot in
the head at close range.
A witness named Amjad who lives in a high-rise building that overlooks the
Preventive Security complex said men were killed in front of their wives and
children.
"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview,
declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying
one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him
around and shooting."
The killers, he said, ignored appeals from neighborhood residents to spare
the men's lives.
Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman, denied the reports of gangland-style
killings. "Whoever was killed was killed in clashes," he said.
Hamas TV said the Preventive Security building would be turned into an
Islamic college. It showed a room with wall-to-wall wiretapping equipment -
a testament to Fatah's collapsed control.
Hamas fighters later seized the Fatah-controlled intelligence services
building, planting the Islamic group's green flag on the roof of the
ship-shaped structure. And after nightfall, the group announced it had
seized Fatah's last stronghold in Gaza, the National Security headquarters.
Hamas TV showed smoke billowing from the top two floors of the
mortar-pocked, five-story intelligence building. Five masked gunmen posed
inside for the TV camera, including one who raised two assault rifles in
triumph.
Another gunman, wearing a Hamas headband around his helmet, stood in a pose
of prayer, a hand to each side of his head, screaming "Allah is Great" at
the top of his voice.
Spent bullets lay on the floor in one office, and a carton holding hand
grenades stood in another area.
Outside the building, three masked gunmen prayed on the sidewalk, their
weapons on the ground in front of them as they kneeled in prayer.
Abbas Dissolves Palestinian Government
NewsMax.com Wires Friday, June 15, 2007
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
declared a state of emergency and disbanded the Hamas-led unity government
after the Islamic militant group vanquished its Fatah rivals and effectively
took control of the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Fearful that Hamas' momentum could spread to the West Bank, Fatah went on
the offensive there, rounding up three dozen Hamas fighters. Angry militants
threw office furniture out a third-story window of the Palestinian
parliament building in Ramallah, then set fire to the office of three Hamas
lawmakers. A Hamas activist was shot and killed in Nablus, the first person
to be killed in the West Bank after days of violence in Gaza; the Al Aqsa
Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, claimed responsibility.
In Gaza, it was a day of major victories for Hamas and its backers in Iran
and Syria - and of devastating setbacks for the Western-backed Fatah. In one
particularly humiliating scene, masked Hamas fighters marched agents of the
once-feared Preventive Security Service out of their headquarters, arms
raised in the air, stripped to the waist and ducking at the sound of a
gunshot.
"The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived," Hamas spokesman Islam
Shahawan said.
The violence has killed at least 90 people in the past five days, including
33 on Thursday alone. Witnesses, Fatah officials and a doctor reported
executions by Hamas militants of defeated Fatah fighters Thursday; Fatah
said seven of its men were shot in the head gangland-style. Hamas denied any
such killings.
Abbas, of Fatah, fired the Hamas prime minister and said he would install a
new government, replacing the Hamas-Fatah coalition formed just three months
ago. Abbas' decrees, which he issued in Ramallah, won't reverse the Hamas
takeover of Gaza. Instead, his moves will enable Fatah to consolidate its
control over the West Bank, likely paving the way for two separate
Palestinian governments.
At a news conference in Gaza City early Friday, deposed Palestinian Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh rejected Abbas' declaration, calling it "hasty" and
saying he would maintain the unity government. Haniyeh said the situation
was "not suitable for unilateral decisions."
He said the Hamas militia would impose law and order "firmly, decisively and
legally." He also rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in Gaza only, run
by Hamas.
In Damascus, one of the exiled leaders of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, also
rejected setting up an Islamic state there. "Gaza will remain Gaza and there
will be no changes in its future and will continue to be linked to the West
Bank," he said.
But because Fatah has recognized Israel's right to exist and signed on to
past peace agreements, the international community's boycott of the
Palestinian territories in the wake of Hamas' electoral successes may no
longer apply to the West Bank - just to Gaza. Some 2 million Palestinians
live in the West Bank, while 1.4 million reside in Gaza.
Fatah's old demons - corruption, petty quarreling, lack of leadership - led
to its dismal performance in Gaza. While disciplined Hamas systematically
hoarded weapons, Fatah's Gaza leader, Mohammed Dahlan, preferred travel and
West Bank politics to preparing for the inevitable showdown with the Islamic
militants. Dahlan returned Thursday from Egypt, where he stayed several
weeks after knee surgery. But instead of going to Gaza, he headed for
Ramallah.
Many West Bank Palestinians, watching the fall of Gaza on their TV screens,
pinned the blame on Abbas, whom they see as indecisive and detached. During
Hamas's assaults in Gaza this week, no prominent Fatah leader was in the
coastal strip to take command.
"Hamas has leadership, a goal, an ideology and funding," said Gaza analyst
Talal Okal. "Fatah has neither leadership, nor a goal, a vision or money."
By capturing Gaza City's three main security compounds and the southern town
of Rafah, Hamas secured its hegemony in Gaza, putting Islamic extremists in
control there. The final target for Hamas was Abbas' Gaza City headquarters,
which fell without a fight late Thursday as some officials fled by boat in
the direction of Egypt.
For first time since fighting erupted five days ago, Abbas issued an order
to strike back. But his words were too little, too late.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas' decisions have "no value" on the
ground.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed not to let the takeover of Gaza
spill over into violence against Israel. Some Israelis said only a Gaza
invasion could curb Hamas' military power. But for now, the government seems
more inclined to stay out, fearful of inviting more rocket attacks on
southern Israel.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States
backs Abbas' move. Abbas informed Rice of his decision in a phone call
earlier Thursday.
"President Abbas has exercised his lawful authority as president of the
Palestinian Authority, as leader of the Palestinian people," Rice said. "We
fully support him in his decision to try and end this crisis for the
Palestinian people and to give them an opportunity ... to return to peace
and a better future."
The European Commission, meanwhile, suspended tens of millions of dollars in
humanitarian aid projects in the Gaza Strip because of the escalating
violence, a day after the U.N. announced it would scale back its relief
projects there.
This week's fighting has been the most intense since Hamas won parliamentary
elections last year, setting the stage for a violent power struggle with
Fatah. Hamas reluctantly brought Fatah into the coalition in March to quell
an earlier round of violence, but the uneasy partnership began crumbling
last month over control of the powerful security forces.
No battle was more indicative of Gaza's hatreds and passions than the one at
Preventive Security, one of Fatah's four main security bases in the coastal
strip. After Hamas fighters overran it in a hail of mortar and gunfire
Thursday, they touched their heads to the ground in prayer and marched
vanquished gunmen into the streets shirtless.
Preventive Security carried out a brutal crackdown on Hamas in 1996, and the
militants never forgot it.
"There is a history to it, a vendetta and a settling of scores," said
Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi.
Fatah officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution,
said Hamas shot dead seven Fatah fighters after they had surrendered. A
doctor at Shifa Hospital said he examined two bodies that had been shot in
the head at close range.
A witness named Amjad who lives in a high-rise building that overlooks the
Preventive Security complex said men were killed in front of their wives and
children.
"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview,
declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying
one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him
around and shooting."
The killers, he said, ignored appeals from neighborhood residents to spare
the men's lives.
Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman, denied the reports of gangland-style
killings. "Whoever was killed was killed in clashes," he said.
Hamas TV said the Preventive Security building would be turned into an
Islamic college. It showed a room with wall-to-wall wiretapping equipment -
a testament to Fatah's collapsed control.
Hamas fighters later seized the Fatah-controlled intelligence services
building, planting the Islamic group's green flag on the roof of the
ship-shaped structure. And after nightfall, the group announced it had
seized Fatah's last stronghold in Gaza, the National Security headquarters.
Hamas TV showed smoke billowing from the top two floors of the
mortar-pocked, five-story intelligence building. Five masked gunmen posed
inside for the TV camera, including one who raised two assault rifles in
triumph.
Another gunman, wearing a Hamas headband around his helmet, stood in a pose
of prayer, a hand to each side of his head, screaming "Allah is Great" at
the top of his voice.
Spent bullets lay on the floor in one office, and a carton holding hand
grenades stood in another area.
Outside the building, three masked gunmen prayed on the sidewalk, their
weapons on the ground in front of them as they kneeled in prayer.
