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| By Israel Insider staff June 15, 2007 |
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Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, dismissed from his position by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected the decision Thursday to dissolve the PA coalition government and declared that his government would continue in power. At a late-night press conference, he said, "The Hamas' presence in the government is the decision of the Palestinian people. Unilateral decisions, made without cooperation or coordination, do not suit the current situation. Therefore, the present government will continue operating and will not give up its position and responsibility towards the Palestinian people," he said.
A spokesman for Abbas, Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, said that the intention was to form a new government, eventually. "The President is determined to go back to the Palestinian public, when the situation allows that."
Abbas declarations rang hollow as Hamas' bloody takeover of Strip was being completed and Fatah officials were running for their lives. "Abbas' decision was hasty, and it seems his advisors did not fully consider its consequences," Haniyeh added. He called on Hamas members to have mercy on the Fatah members being held as prisoners and promised to "continue to act toward imposing order in the Gaza Strip and protecting public property." He said his government would set up a unified security apparatus under his control.
Surviving local Fatah leaders were fleeing across the border to Egypt and by boat into the Mediterranean Sea. In the formerly Fatah-run General Security Services building in Gaza City, Hamas gunmen claimed to have found documents proving ties between Fatah and the CIA.
"The Gaza Strip is inseparable from the West Bank," Haniyeh said. "There will not be a Palestinian state without the 'West Bank'." But Judea and Samaria, where the power of Hamas is less than in Gaza, remains a stronghold of Abbas and his Fatah faction, although there have been increasing clashes between the two groups there as well.
Fatah gunmen arrested dozens of Hamas activists during the day Thursday throughout Judea and Samaria. According to spokesmen of Abbas's Fatah, the arrests were for the detainees' own good, "to protect the Hamas activists from angry Fatah members," they said.
Senior Fatah terrorist Abu Udai, disagreed, telling the Bethlehem-based Maan news service that "Hamas is now a legally prohibited movement.... Its activities are banned, and Hamas members will be punished if they participated in any Hamas activity." On Tuesday, Abu Udai threatened to "wipe out the entire leadership and all the activists of Hamas in the West Bank." Hamas has threatened to execute many Fatah leaders in Gaza, and have made good on a number of those threats.
The PLO's Executive Committee recommended that Abbas seek international protection against Hamas. During a meeting in Ramallah on Thursday, the committee authorized Abbas "to take whatever decision he judges appropriate," according to one committee member.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is on his way to Washington and New York, with the chaos in the PA pushed to the top of his agenda. He has said that Israel has no plans to intervene in Gaza. 'The recent developments there are very troubling," a senior Israeli government official said. "Israel is very concerned and is monitoring the situation closely, but at this point has no intention of intervening," the official said Thursday night, YnetNews reported. Jerusalem is reportedly considering separate policies for dealing with Judea and Samaria on the one hand, and Gaza on the other.
"When the infighting began the prime minister warned that if Hamas overtakes Gaza it may have an impact on the entire region. Since this is, unfortunately, the way things have played out, we are preparing ourselves accordingly," the state official said.
"Israel intends to work with the international community to deal with the serious and troubling events in Gaza," said Olmert's office.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Abbas and expressed her government's support for the forces of Fatah, which she defined as "moderate." |
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