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A Palestinian youth holds a pistol during a rally in the evacuated Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim on Wednesday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners September 15, 2005 |
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Dressed in full military fatigues, dozens of gunmen with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Palestinian terrorist group set up checkpoints and stopped traffic to Gaza's evacuated Jewish settlements, doing the job of Palestinian security officials who have been unable to rein in the chaos that has ensued since Israel's withdrawal.
The gunmen -- who are linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement -- were determined to restore order and to stop fellow Palestinians from looting valuable equipment from the greenhouses that Israel left behind.
Driving in a three-car convoy and protected by a dozen gunmen, Raed al-Ayde, the local Al Aqsa commander checked in on his forces. He made a quick stop at the former Katif settlement, where 20 Al Aqsa gunmen, identifiable by their black baseball caps, had set up shop.
Alongside them, just 12 Palestinian police were stationed at the entrance to the former settlement. Their uniforms were shabby and incomplete, and not all of them had weapons -- as if the official security forces were the poor relations of the militants.
Complicating the picture is a new plan by Abbas to disarm all the militant groups, starting with the ones close to his Fatah movement -- meaning Al Aqsa.
"It's impossible," said al-Ayde after a tour of the evacuated Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza.
In the heat of the Gaza day at the demolished settlement, the two sides debated the thorny issue of who gives the orders.
The gunmen and the Palestinian security forces drank tea and talked calmly as they sat under a makeshift gazebo made of four wooden poles and a black mesh awning they scavenged from the settlement rubble.
Behind them, dozens of greenhouses were in shambles.
"You can't be Aqsa boys and Palestinian Authority boys at the same time," Khaled Masri, a Palestinian police officer, told the gunmen. "You have to choose one or the other."
"This is how civil wars begin," said Masri. After a second of silence, the gunmen and soldiers, almost in unison, dismissed that possibility.
Part of Abbas' plan is to absorb all groups associated with the ruling Fatah party into the security forces, and some think it's possible to answer to two masters.
"When they go to work, and they are wearing military uniforms, they will take orders from their military commanders. But when they go home and the work day is over, they take their orders from us," said Hassan Qassas, Al Aqsa's leader in Khan Younis.
"As a body, the Al Aqsa Brigades will remain," he said.
Qassas even commended Abbas for his pledge to rid Gaza's streets of what he called "illegal" weapons, used in petty crimes rather than against Israel.
He said Al Aqsa is willing to "hide" their weapons and keep them out of sight, but the group will not give them up.
The gunmen's rule underscored the weakness and ineffectiveness of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, which has failed to impose law and order throughout Gaza. The lack of control was most apparent along the Gaza-Egypt border, where people have been crossing unfettered since Israel's pullout on Monday.
Egyptian and Palestinian forces moved to close the wide-open Gaza-Egypt border after Palestinian gunrunners smuggled hundreds of assault rifles and pistols into Gaza, according to dealers and border officials talking to The Associated Press.
The influx confirmed Israeli fears that giving up border control could further destabilize an already chaotic Gaza and further weaken Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
A sign of the overall chaos in Gaza in the wake of Israel's pullout on Monday was the scene at the Gaza-Egypt border. Until Israeli tanks pulled out, it was the most closely guarded border in the region, with the Israelis trying to prevent Palestinian arms smuggling.
The exit of the Israelis was a sign for Palestinians to jump over the border walls as Egyptian forces watched. The first day was mostly family reunions and trips to the beach, but the second day was characterized by weapons smuggling.
Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa told the AP that the border was officially closed as of 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) Wednesday, but Palestinians and Egyptians caught on the wrong side were being allowed to return home.
Israel voiced sharp concern about the continued disorder, sending message to the U.S., Egypt and the Palestinians. "We will not put up with this," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Wednesday.
In New York where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expected Egypt to bring the border under control. "I imagine the Egyptians will get a grip," he said. "There is heavy American pressure on Egypt and the Palestinians on this issue."
Egypt had assured Israel that it would prevent weapons smuggling once its troops take over from Israeli soldiers along the Gaza frontier.
Three arms dealers interviewed separately by The AP said their "mules' have bought large quantities of assault rifles, pistols and bullets in Egypt, mainly from Bedouin tribesmen, since the Israeli withdrawal was completed Monday. Prices in Egypt are far lower than in Gaza, where during Israeli rule smugglers dug tunnels under the border to bring in weapons. Israeli troops often caught the smugglers, and the risk drove up prices.
Since Monday, black market prices for weapons in Gaza have dropped sharply, the dealers said. The price of an AK-47 assault rifle fell from 1,400 Jordanian dinars (US$ 2,000) to about 900 dinars (US$1,300), while the bullets for the weapon are now being sold for as little as three shekels (less than US$1) when previously they cost up to 18 shekels (US$4).
Egyptian-made pistols that were recently sold in Gaza for US$1,400 can now be bought for as little as US$180, said an arms dealer who identified himself only as Khader, for fear of arrest.
Another dealer, who was interviewed in a car just outside the Rafah cemetery, said hundreds of AK-47s had been smuggled from Egypt since Monday. He said he has already sold his loot to militant groups, but declined to say how many pieces his runners brought back.
The dealer, a balding man with a two-day stubble, said he went to Egypt to meet his business partners, with whom he had dealt on the phone during the past five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. "They cooked us a nice meal in the hills, and took us on a tour of the beach," he said.
Khader, interviewed by phone, said his runners came back mainly with pistols and bullets, rather than the heavier assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. "My people brought me lots of things, including pistols and gold," he said.
A third dealer, who gave his name as Hafez, said competitors reported having US$1 million worth of loot confiscated, including grenade launchers. "That's why everyone was focusing on small pieces," he said.
Assault rifles and pistols could intensify violence among rival Palestinian groups, but would not pose a direct threat to Israel, which has sealed Gaza with a complex of border barriers.
Senior lawmaker Yuval Steinitz from Israel's ruling Likud Party said he is worried rockets could reach Gaza. Palestinians have fired hundreds of homemade rockets at Israeli border towns.
"When people cross from side to side, terrorists cross and weapons pass, too," Steinitz told Channel 10 TV. "That's what worries us."
Abbas' inability to control the area strengthens the rival Hamas militant group, just three months ahead of a parliamentary election, when Fatah and Hamas are to face off for the first time in a political playing field. The outcome of the Gaza power struggle could greatly influence voting.
Abbas' lack of clout was evident Wednesday when he canceled his appearance at his own celebration rally at the site of what was Israel's largest Gaza settlement, Neve Dekalim. An aide said Abbas was concerned about gunmen in the crowd, but equally disconcerting was the fact that Palestinian political factions and militant groups ignored Abbas' invitation for a show of unity, and the crowd was much smaller than expected.
Abbas' main rival, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, appeared briefly, holding hands aloft with Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel Rahim. Hamas called its own demonstration for Friday.
The rally ended in disarray when a militant grabbed a microphone from a rap singer, and police firing in the air escorted the singer away. No one was hurt, but the crowd of about 2,500 people dispersed quickly after the incident.
The AP contributed to this report.
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