Fatah fighters turn screws on Hamas

Young boys serve tea to Hamas fighters while on patrol in Gaza City.

15 June 2007

Gaza: Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas retaliated against Hamas in the West Bank, shooting and wounding three Hamas men near Ramallah, seizing Hamas gunmen in the towns of Jenin and in Nablus, where they also stormed a Hamas office and hurled its computers out the window.

Palestinian security forces allied with Fatah arrested three dozen Hamas activists in the West Bank.

Also, Fatah gunmen shot and wounded three Hamas activists after kidnapping them. One of the wounded was identified as a Hamas member of Ramallah's municipal council and a second as a Hamas preacher from a nearby village.

Fatah leaders said a decision was made by security commanders to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank, to prevent it from taking any positions in that territory, a Fatah stronghold.

Arrests

Arrests of Hamas activists were reported in the West Bank towns of Jenin, Nablus, Jericho, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

Members of President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces arrest Saleh Frehat, an Islamic court judge affiliated with Hamas, at his home in the West Bank village of Al Yamoon near Jenin.

In Bethlehem, security forces wore ski masks, to avoid being identified, as they seized Hamas activists in their homes and businesses, witnesses said.

In Nablus, masked security agents and Fatah gunmen rode together in cars, searching for Hamas members, and broke into several homes of Hamas activists. In one area, a brief firefight erupted.

In Gaza, watching Hamas gunmen celebrating their capture of a key security compound, Palestinians in the battle zone voiced fears of deepening economic hardship in a territory run by the Islamist group.

"I think Gaza will be sealed off and isolated from the rest of the world. We have been suffering and now will suffer more," said Gaza City resident Hussam Ahmad, 36.

The Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants are no strangers to poverty. But their economic plight has worsened under Western sanctions and frequent Israeli closings of a border commercial crossing since Hamas came to power in an election last year.

Calling a Hamas-controlled Gaza a "dangerous entity", Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official, said the territory should be denied foreign monetary aid so it "cannot stand on its feet".

Israel lets in food and other humanitarian aid but, in common with Western powers, has tried to choke Hamas and favours Fatah, whose power base is the bigger and wealthier West Bank.

A Hamas supporter in Gaza, who gave his name only as Ali, said he was not frightened by the prospect of more hardship.

"What else could happen to us? The world has never recognised Hamas, anyway, and has imposed sanctions," he said.

"Gaza is going to become a safer place for Muslims after the defeat of the collaborators. Threats don't scare us."

Standing outside his Gaza home, an elderly Palestinian said Israel was the real power in the conflict. He spoke as the sound of Israeli helicopters, on an apparent reconnaissance mission, clattered over the nearby security compound.

"It is a game between Hamas, Fatah and Israel," the man said. "The cat eats the rat, and the dog eats the cat that ate the rat."