|
|
| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 20, 2006 |
|
| |
Hamas on Monday began coalition talks to form the Palestinians' first government led by Islamic militants after winning the nod from moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
In a meeting Monday evening, Abbas was to officially appoint Hamas' Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, as the designated prime minister, giving him five weeks to cobble together a government. Abbas directed the Islamic group to lead the next government after it joined the Palestinian parliament on Saturday.
Hamas controls 74 of 132 parliament seats and could govern alone. However, Hamas has said it seeks coalition partners, including Abbas' defeated Fatah Party, apparently to help win international acceptance. Senior Fatah officials have said their party would not join a Hamas government.
Throughout the day, Hamas legislators were meeting with potential coalition partners.
Haniyeh is considered a pragmatist in the hierarchy of the violent Islamic movement, which has sent dozens of suicide bombers into Israel. But Israel ruled out any compromise, cutting off millions of dollars of vital funds and branding the new regime a "terrorist authority" even before it takes office.
Early Monday, Israeli forces operating in the Samarian city of Nablus shot and killed a senior member of the Islamic Jihad group, Palestinians said. The terrorist group identified the man as Ahmed Abu Sharik, 30, its top commander in the region.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Shick, an Israeli commander, said his forces caught a group of terrorists, including Abu Sharik, off guard on the second day of an operation in Nablus.
"We found a group of people we have been seeking for a while and we went for them," he said. "We know every street and alley, where they are and where they hide."
Military officials said Abu Sharik had been involved in numerous attacks on Israeli soldiers, and had helped plan a recent suicide attack in Tel Aviv. The army also arrested 15 terrorists overnight throughout Judea and Samaria.
The IDF launched operation "Northern Lights" on Saturday in a bid to deal a blow to Islamic Jihad terror cells operating in Nablus. The defense establishment reported a rise in terror warnings stemming from the Samarian town since the January 25 legislative elections.
Jpost reported that Hamas's victory in the Palestinian Authority elections and the inauguration of the new Palestinian Legislative Council over the weekend have sparked a sharp increase in the number of security warnings with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Sunday recording 76 - compared to around 50 two weeks ago.
On Sunday, four Palestinians terrorists were killed in two Israeli military operations in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Hamas' coalition talks were led by Gaza lawmaker Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of Hamas. Hamas was holding talks with several small factions, before Monday's night's meeting between Abbas and Haniyeh.
"A large part of the meeting will be about the common issues and the differences in our programs," said Hamas lawmaker Salah Bardawil. "We always seek dialogue."
Abbas, a political moderate, has called on Hamas to accept existing agreements with Israel and allow him to continue his pursuit of a peace deal with the Jewish state. Hamas rejected the calls, but said it would seek a compromise with the Palestinian leader.
In its first official response to Hamas' election victory, Israel on Sunday halted its monthly transfers of about $50 million in tax money it collects for the Palestinians.
Although the measure will deal a tough blow to the Palestinian Authority, which needs the money to meet its payroll each month, Israel did not adopt a tougher package of economic sanctions proposed by defense officials.
Israel's acting foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said the government did not want to worsen the daily lives of Palestinians, a move she said would cause an international backlash against Israel.
Israel and Western countries have demanded Hamas renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist, but Hamas has resisted pressure to moderate. The group took control of the Palestinian legislature when the new parliament was sworn in Saturday.
"The PA is - in practice - becoming a terrorist authority," acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday. "Israel will not hold contacts with a government in which Hamas takes part."
The Cabinet decision did not specify when the monthly payments would stop, but government spokesman Asaf Shariv said the next payment, scheduled for early March, "won't take place."
Army Radio quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz saying the cutoff would be reviewed each month.
The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority relies on that money to help pay the salaries of roughly 140,000 government employees, including about 57,000 in the security forces. In recent months, security personnel have demonstrated and taken over government buildings when they haven't been paid on time.
Abbas said cuts in aid are already being felt. "We are in real financial crisis," he told reporters in Gaza. "We hope we can overcome it month by month."
Should the government, the Palestinians' largest employer, be forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers, it would lead to increased chaos and poverty in Palestinian towns throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
On Sunday, Shimon Peres told a visiting U.S. delegation, "We must see to it that not a single shekel reaches Hamas and terrorism, and that not a single innocent Palestinian suffers from an economic boycott."
Hamas is listed as a terror organization by the U.S. and the European Union, and many Western countries have threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the Palestinian Authority if the group does not moderate.
Abbas said Sunday he agreed to return $50 million in special aid given by the U.S. government. The U.S. asked for the money after Hamas won parliamentary elections.
However, the actual transfer of funds has not taken place, Palestinian officials said.
Abbas said he would discuss the matter with U.S. envoys in the coming days.
AP contributed to this report
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
