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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: June 5, 2006 |
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A standoff intensified Sunday after Hamas rejected an ultimatum from moderate President Mahmoud Abbas to sign on to a plan implicitly recognizing Israel, and four bystanders were killed during clashes between forces loyal to the two rivals in Gaza. A militant was also killed.
In a rare dose of good news, some Palestinian public workers began drawing money from their banks, the first time they have been paid in three months, a result of a Western aid cutoff, and Israel's premier talked to Egypt's president about resuming peace talks with the Palestinians.
Violence erupted in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis between forces loyal to Fatah and the new Hamas militia, security officials said. A 20-year-old woman, eight months pregnant, was killed when masked gunmen opened fire on a car carrying her and two Hamas militants, they said, wounding the men. One of the militants died of his wounds.
Then gunmen from the two sides battled in Gaza City, security officials said. Three bystanders were killed in a clash between Fatah and Hamas forces. Relatives of the dead gathered at the hospital where the bodies were taken and shouted anti-Hamas slogans.
Near the scene of the shooting, at the entrance to the Shati refugee camp, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was holding consultations with Fatah representatives about the disagreement over the document. No progress was reported.
Hamas formed its own militia last month, and on Saturday, a similar Fatah force took to the streets in the West Bank down of Jenin. On Sunday, Fatah militants said they have a force of 1,250 gunmen ready to deploy in Gaza as well.
Abu Qusai, spokesman for the group, told the AP that if no agreement is reached over the Hamas militia, "we will have to take to the streets."
The Hamas takeover of the Palestinian government has led to a cutoff of funds by Israel, the U.S. and European Union, which list Hamas as a terror organization. The bankrupt government was unable to pay its 165,000 workers, who make up the largest sector in the Palestinian economy.
On Sunday the Palestine Bank in Gaza said it was opening its ATM machines, and the 40,000 lowest-paid workers began withdrawing money. The government said it would give them each $331, but the rest of the employees would have to wait.
Dozens lined up at ATMs in Gaza City. Bahar Habashi, 43, a father of seven who works as a doorman at a school, said the money would not come close to meeting the needs of his family. "I don't think this money will stay in my pocket more than an hour," he said, "but I am going to spare 50 shekels to buy candy and fresh fruit for my children."
The costly confrontation over recognition of Israel played out against the background of Israeli plans to set its own border unilaterally if peace negotiations fail. Israeli refuses to talk to a Palestinian government headed by a movement that does not accept the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert traveled to Egypt Sunday to discuss the situation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, often a mediator in Israeli-Palestinian disputes.
Mubarak is known to oppose unilateral Israeli steps, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the U.S. prefers negotiations. She told CNN on Sunday that the "final status is really something that has to be mutually acceptable" to Israel and the Palestinians.
Olmert repeated his offer to meet Abbas to discuss resumption of peace negotiations, but he did not give a date for the first Israel-Palestinian summit since February 2005.
Mubarak and Olmert said they agreed that negotiations must be pursued. Olmert said, "I really hope that our Palestinian partners will take advantage of this opportunity and will implement all their commitments so that it will be possible to proceed according to the 'road map,"' an internationally backed peace plan that requires the Palestinians to dismantle violent groups and Israel to take down unauthorized settlement outposts.
Palestinians, meanwhile, concentrated on their internal disputes.
Haniyeh rejected Abbas' deadline and called the referendum proposal illegal, setting up a head-on political confrontation between Hamas and Fatah after days of tension on the streets that have set off some armed clashes.
"The local basic law and the advice which we got from experts in international law say that referendums are not permitted on the Palestinian land," Haniyeh told reporters.
At the center of the Hamas-Fatah standoff is an 18-point document worked out by representatives of the main Palestinian groups at a prison in southern Israel. A Hamas representative was among those signing the plan, calling for establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem -- implying recognition of Israel across that border.
A poll released last week showed that nearly 90 percent of Palestinians favor the prisoners agreement. Al-Ahmad said Abbas would consider calling elections for president and parliament if Hamas did not abide by the results of a referendum. |
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