Fatah young guard to demand new leadership
Activists storm the parliament building; call on Fatah leadership to resign, blaming party’s old guard for defeat in elections
Fatah gunmen, angry at their party’s defeat to Hamas in parliamentary election, stormed the parliamentary building in Gaza city on Monday, firing skyward and taking up positions on the roof.
In another development, Fatah activists, including gunmen, ceased a building in the city used by European Union officials to protest the publication of cartoons in a Danish newspaper deemed insulting to Prophet Mohammad.
Activists who stormed the parliament building called on the Fatah leadership to resign, blaming the party’s old guard for the defeat.
In a sign of ongoing unrest since the end of Fatah’s grip over Palestinian politics when election results were published last Thursday, Fatah activists organized a mass protest at a Gaza stadium; thousands of members, including Gaza strongman Mohammad Dahlan, are expected to attend.
Dahlan represents the younger generation in Fatah, which is vying for power in the party and in the Palestinian Authority.
Protesters will apparently demand that Fatah’s old guard call early primary elections for the party’s leadership.
In the Gaza Strip, Fatah members rejected a proposal for an internal investigation that would determine the causes of the defeat, citing conflict of interest from members of the central committee who will lead the probe.
'All revenues will be spent on salaries'
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faces mounting pressure from the international community to form a coalition government with Hamas to block the Islamic party’s effective control of the executive branch, but the move is likely to add fuel to an already fiery Fatah.
Abbas and other senior Palestinian Authority leaders fear that a Hamas-led government would prompt the European Union and the United States, who have Hamas enlisted as a terrorist group, cut much-needed aid.
Hamas leaders have appealed to foreign donors not to cut aid to the Palestinians and not to set terms for the continuation of financial assistance.
EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday called on Hamas to clarify its political intentions in an eventual Palestinian government, urging it to embrace peace efforts with Israel.
A Hamas leader asked the international community on Monday not to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority saying, "We call on you to transfer all aid to the Palestinian treasury."
Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in Gaza, told a news conference just hours before the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators was scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the fallout from the Hamas election victory earlier this week, "We assure you that all the revenues will be spent on salaries, daily life and infrastructure."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
