Civil War in Palestine
All hell has broken loose in Gaza.
Abbas declares state of emergency in Gaza
Thursday, 14 Jun 2007 19:50
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed the unity government with Hamas and declared a state of emergency in Gaza following an escalation of violence in the region.
Since the weekend more than 60 people are thought to have died and nearly 300 people injured as Islamic Hamas gunmen have fought to gain control of key secular Fatah security posts in Gaza.
The two groups had previously ruled together after Hamas gained a parliamentary majority in 2006.
Hamas militants are now reported to have taken control of Gaza's final Fatah strongholds.
United Nations organisations said they are "gravely concerned" about the escalating violence in Gaza, which some fear could lead to a full-blown civil war.
Earlier today television pictures showed the green flag of Hamas being raised above one of the last positions held by Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, while defenders were marched out from their positions under armed guard.
A senior Fatah official told journalists in the West Bank that "Gaza is lost".
Mr Abbas ordered his presidential guard to deploy on the streets of Gaza today in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Hamas gunmen from gaining an unassailable position.
Both he and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh have called on armed supporters to end the violence that has thrown Palestinians' push for their own state into further doubt.
It has been suggested by international observers that the violence seen between the rival factions in recent months suggests a three-state solution – Israel, a Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and a Fatah-run West Bank – could be the only viable option.
The joint statement from Mr Abbas and Mr Haniyeh issued earlier today said the leaders had agreed on "the need to end the fighting and return to the language of dialogue".
Earlier this week United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply concerned" at the level of violence in the region and called for an immediate end to intra-Palestinian violence.
And now, for the Palestinians, civil war
As if they don't have enough problems, ordinary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are seeing what's left of their towns and villages ravaged by a violent shootout between militias representing the rival Fatah (secular) and Hamas (Islamist) factions, each of which has a presence in the Palestinian Authority's three-month-old, so-called unity government.
An early-morning dispatch today from Gaza City, "the nerve center of the Palestinian territories," in Britain's Telegraph, notes: "At least 69 Palestinians have been killed since Sunday in what now appears to be an unrestrained civil war." Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has "called the fighting 'madness'" and suspended his Fatah party's participation in the government. Ignoring his demands that the violence be stopped immediately, Hamas militants have declared they intend to seize "Abbas's seaside Gaza headquarters, the ultimate symbol of power in the Gaza Strip." Hamas has secured control of the northern and southern portions of the territory.
Al Jazeera reports that "[a]bout 1000 Palestinians marched through Gaza City [yesterday] urging the rival factions to 'stop the killing.' The demonstration drew gunfire from armed men on nearby buildings[,] killing at least one protester and injuring 14 others." As ugly as the violence has been, now the factional fighting has "spilled over into the previously calm West Bank...." Yesterday, "fighters from the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades stormed a building in Nablus used by a pro-Hamas television company."
From Saudi Arabia, the daily Arab News offers the Palestinians a sound scolding. Its main editorial today admonishes: "It is not just the bereaved families of the slain who are weeping at the tragedy in Gaza - it is the whole Arab world....Abbas rightly calls it madness[,] but this should not disguise the fact that he and other Palestinian leaders of both factions are ultimately responsible for this wretched state of affairs."
Specifically, the paper points out, it is "the refusal of the Hamas and Fatah leaderships to bury their differences, abandon their power bases, put aside past quarrels and work together for the good of all the Palestinian people that has brought about this revolting spectacle of Palestinian murdering Palestinian. They should all hang their heads in shame."
If Hamas and Fatah keep up the fighting, Arab News warns, the so-called two-state solution that many Palestinians have longed for could quickly emerge. However, it notes ironically, "instead of its being [a solution involving] the states of Palestine and Israel, it would be two rival Palestinian territories, united by nothing except common enmity. Such a disastrous reality would lead to nothing except the wreckage of any just Palestinian settlement, the contempt of the international community, and the despair of Palestine's friends and of course the immense satisfaction of many Israelis."
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Hamas did get almost twice as many seats than Fatah in the election.. But then the zionists witheld the taxes, funded Fatah, and now there's civil war. Those 500 Fatah were routed right back to Egypt, where they were trained.
Yep, and I bet the Israeli regime is loving it as they "sit on the sidelines".
"Security officials and analysts say Israel has nothing to gain from meddling in Gaza."
Yeah and I've got a 12 inch penis.
is all it is BULSHIT...Israel never wanted two states and it worked so hard with the help of US and EU to start this internal strife between popular Hamas and failed Fatah. That pricks in Saudi Arabia are either dumb bedouins or prozionists deliberately diverting public attention from the real cause of this conflict. Saudis themselves are engaged in destabilizing Palestinian authority since Hamas won elections. Those bastards are worse traitors of Palestinian interests than hypocritical UN. Israel never agreed to two states and will never agree no matter what. And the whole idea of two states is shit created to confuse and pressurize Arab world into recognizing validity of Zionist regime.
"Let there be Light!"
The world really can't blame Hamas.
Hamas was a democratically elected party, that should have every right to govern and be a sovergn state, but of course Israel and the Western Powers do not wish to see this.
So they backed Fatah. They gave them guns. They trained 100's in subterfuge and black arts, car bombs, how to do guerilla warfare.
So Hamas strikes back. HAMAS IS THE PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT, Fatah IS A SELL OUT ZIONIST REGIME THAT IS THERE TO ONLY STIR UP FACTIONAL WARS AND CAUSE MORE CHAOS!
GO HAMAS! YOU DO WHAT YOU MUST DO!
"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it"...Voltaire