August 09 05 Gaza caught in a power struggle
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: Aug 09 05 Gaza caught in a power struggle
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Gaza caught in a power struggle
By Martin Patience, USA TODAY
GAZA CITY — Propping himself up on his bed, Maher al-Omri carefully pulled up his gray dressing gown to reveal white bandages covering the bullet wound on his right hip.
A Jewish settler prays out loud during a special open-air prayer in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, Tuesday.
By Emilio Morenatti, AP
"Before this, I liked Hamas," the construction worker and father of seven said, pointing to the injury. "Now I don't. The only thing they have ever given me was a bullet."
Omri, 35, said he was caught in a gunbattle between Palestinian security forces and Hamas last month in the Jebaliya district in Gaza City.
Gaza recently has seen some of the worst clashes in years between security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas militants.
The densely populated territory on the Mediterranean has been a battleground between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army for years. But Israel's withdrawal from 21 settlements here, set to begin Monday, has ignited a struggle for control between Hamas — responsible for many of the terrorist attacks in Israel — and Abbas' Fatah political group. The factional fighting has raised the prospects of a civil war.
"I hope that the withdrawal will be a day of opportunity — and also a day of law," Saeb Erekat, a member of the ruling Fatah Party, said Tuesday about the Palestinian infighting.
A temporary calm
The violence between Fatah and Hamas was triggered July 14 when Hamas launched four rockets at the Israeli village of Netiv Ha'asara north of Gaza, killing a 22-year-old woman.
"Hamas are trying to give the impression that they are running the Israelis out of town," said Hillel Frisch, a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv.
The Israeli government has demanded that Abbas crack down on militants or face an Israeli army incursion into Gaza to pursue terrorists. Speaking last month on Israel's Channel 2, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said "the pullout (from Gaza) cannot commence under fire."
When Palestinian security forces attempted to prevent Hamas militants from firing more rockets on July 15, gunbattles broke out. At least two civilians were killed.
Abbas' efforts to rein in the militants in Gaza — including taking temporary residence in the territory on July 24 to oversee those operations — appear to have produced a temporary calm. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas on July 20 agreed to restore a February cease-fire broken by the rocket attacks. (Related story: Abbas urges calm)
The lull is likely to be short-lived, according to an independent study by the Washington-based Strategic Assessments Initiative. Its report, released July 26, said Palestinian security forces are ill-equipped to deal with militant groups such as Hamas, which are better armed and have grass-roots support in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Moshir al-Masri insisted his group will abide by the Israeli-Palestinian truce. But, he added, Hamas has the right to act "in self defense" in the face of "Israeli aggression" and the Israeli government's targeted assassinations of the group's members.
Abbas issued a warning Tuesday to Hamas and others planning to target Israelis during the withdrawal. "The presence of the gunmen in the streets must end. The Palestinian Authority must be the only authority," he said. "I don't think any country accepts more than one authority, more than one gun."
Hamas' following
While Hamas is better known in the West for its suicide-bombing attacks in Israel — the State Department considers the group a terrorist organization — the Islamic movement has strong support among Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, an area of 139 square miles and home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
Hamas is committed to driving Israeli forces from occupied Palestinian lands through military means including suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. But Hamas also provides social services, such as building schools, hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, which accounts for some of the group's support.
Ghazi Hamad, editor of the weekly Islamic newspaper Al-Risala based in Gaza City and a prospective Hamas candidate in the next Palestinian legislative elections, said the group is not interested in fomenting civil war in Gaza. "Hamas is first for the Palestinian people," he said. "The party does not want bloodshed on the streets."
Abbas' Fatah, the largest political party in the Palestinian territories, dominates the governing Palestinian Authority. But Palestinians, including lawmakers such as Hanan Ashwari, have complained that the party is corrupt.
There also are tensions within Fatah. Tuesday, hundreds of gunmen affiliated with Fatah demonstrated outside the president's Gaza headquarters. The protesters demanded assurances of jobs and safety after Israel withdraws.
Hamas is threatening Fatah's grip on authority. The group decided last year to participate for the first time in the Palestinian political process. In the third round of municipal elections in May, Hamas won about a third of the seats.
So when Abbas announced the postponement of Palestinian legislative elections originally set for July 17, Hamas leaders were furious. On Tuesday, Abbas said elections will be held in January, but he didn't give a date.
Ali Jarbawi, professor of political science at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said the postponement helped drive the recent bloodshed. "The balance of the power has changed on the ground and this is not reflected in the political system itself," Jarbawi said. "Many Palestinians credit Hamas for Israel's decision to withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas wants to cash in on this. They have a real following. But if you close the gate in front of Hamas then the result is street fighting."
Sitting on the sandy beach at Gaza's seafront, Mohammed Abu Howar, 25, a candy seller, said the Palestinian Authority was wrong to crack down on Hamas. "They (Hamas) are defending the Palestinian people and we must respect them for this," he said.
Farther along the beach, Atfik al-Kurd, 45, a travel agent, said that while he dislikes Fatah, he finds the recent clashes pointless.
"If the two sides put their minds together," he said, "we could get the world. The only side benefiting from our fighting is Israel."
Contributing: Wire reports
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: Aug 09 05 Gaza caught in a power struggle
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Gaza caught in a power struggle
By Martin Patience, USA TODAY
GAZA CITY — Propping himself up on his bed, Maher al-Omri carefully pulled up his gray dressing gown to reveal white bandages covering the bullet wound on his right hip.
A Jewish settler prays out loud during a special open-air prayer in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, Tuesday.
By Emilio Morenatti, AP
"Before this, I liked Hamas," the construction worker and father of seven said, pointing to the injury. "Now I don't. The only thing they have ever given me was a bullet."
Omri, 35, said he was caught in a gunbattle between Palestinian security forces and Hamas last month in the Jebaliya district in Gaza City.
Gaza recently has seen some of the worst clashes in years between security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas militants.
The densely populated territory on the Mediterranean has been a battleground between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army for years. But Israel's withdrawal from 21 settlements here, set to begin Monday, has ignited a struggle for control between Hamas — responsible for many of the terrorist attacks in Israel — and Abbas' Fatah political group. The factional fighting has raised the prospects of a civil war.
"I hope that the withdrawal will be a day of opportunity — and also a day of law," Saeb Erekat, a member of the ruling Fatah Party, said Tuesday about the Palestinian infighting.
A temporary calm
The violence between Fatah and Hamas was triggered July 14 when Hamas launched four rockets at the Israeli village of Netiv Ha'asara north of Gaza, killing a 22-year-old woman.
"Hamas are trying to give the impression that they are running the Israelis out of town," said Hillel Frisch, a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv.
The Israeli government has demanded that Abbas crack down on militants or face an Israeli army incursion into Gaza to pursue terrorists. Speaking last month on Israel's Channel 2, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said "the pullout (from Gaza) cannot commence under fire."
When Palestinian security forces attempted to prevent Hamas militants from firing more rockets on July 15, gunbattles broke out. At least two civilians were killed.
Abbas' efforts to rein in the militants in Gaza — including taking temporary residence in the territory on July 24 to oversee those operations — appear to have produced a temporary calm. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas on July 20 agreed to restore a February cease-fire broken by the rocket attacks. (Related story: Abbas urges calm)
The lull is likely to be short-lived, according to an independent study by the Washington-based Strategic Assessments Initiative. Its report, released July 26, said Palestinian security forces are ill-equipped to deal with militant groups such as Hamas, which are better armed and have grass-roots support in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Moshir al-Masri insisted his group will abide by the Israeli-Palestinian truce. But, he added, Hamas has the right to act "in self defense" in the face of "Israeli aggression" and the Israeli government's targeted assassinations of the group's members.
Abbas issued a warning Tuesday to Hamas and others planning to target Israelis during the withdrawal. "The presence of the gunmen in the streets must end. The Palestinian Authority must be the only authority," he said. "I don't think any country accepts more than one authority, more than one gun."
Hamas' following
While Hamas is better known in the West for its suicide-bombing attacks in Israel — the State Department considers the group a terrorist organization — the Islamic movement has strong support among Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, an area of 139 square miles and home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
Hamas is committed to driving Israeli forces from occupied Palestinian lands through military means including suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. But Hamas also provides social services, such as building schools, hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, which accounts for some of the group's support.
Ghazi Hamad, editor of the weekly Islamic newspaper Al-Risala based in Gaza City and a prospective Hamas candidate in the next Palestinian legislative elections, said the group is not interested in fomenting civil war in Gaza. "Hamas is first for the Palestinian people," he said. "The party does not want bloodshed on the streets."
Abbas' Fatah, the largest political party in the Palestinian territories, dominates the governing Palestinian Authority. But Palestinians, including lawmakers such as Hanan Ashwari, have complained that the party is corrupt.
There also are tensions within Fatah. Tuesday, hundreds of gunmen affiliated with Fatah demonstrated outside the president's Gaza headquarters. The protesters demanded assurances of jobs and safety after Israel withdraws.
Hamas is threatening Fatah's grip on authority. The group decided last year to participate for the first time in the Palestinian political process. In the third round of municipal elections in May, Hamas won about a third of the seats.
So when Abbas announced the postponement of Palestinian legislative elections originally set for July 17, Hamas leaders were furious. On Tuesday, Abbas said elections will be held in January, but he didn't give a date.
Ali Jarbawi, professor of political science at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said the postponement helped drive the recent bloodshed. "The balance of the power has changed on the ground and this is not reflected in the political system itself," Jarbawi said. "Many Palestinians credit Hamas for Israel's decision to withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas wants to cash in on this. They have a real following. But if you close the gate in front of Hamas then the result is street fighting."
Sitting on the sandy beach at Gaza's seafront, Mohammed Abu Howar, 25, a candy seller, said the Palestinian Authority was wrong to crack down on Hamas. "They (Hamas) are defending the Palestinian people and we must respect them for this," he said.
Farther along the beach, Atfik al-Kurd, 45, a travel agent, said that while he dislikes Fatah, he finds the recent clashes pointless.
"If the two sides put their minds together," he said, "we could get the world. The only side benefiting from our fighting is Israel."
Contributing: Wire reports
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-08-09-gaza-crossfire_x.htm
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