Tensions soar in PA
Hamas-led government activates new 3,000-strong security squad, in direct disregard of Abbas’ order banning its creation; Fatah spokesperson: Defiance of chairman will only lead to more violence
Interior Minister Said Siyam Siyam assembled a special press conference for the event and said, “The timing of the force’s deployment isn’t random but comes as a direct result of the anarchy, the disturbing violence recently between the Palestinian factions, and the inability of the security branches to do their jobs.”
Addressing the tensions with Fatah, Siyam said, “There is no rift between us and (Abbas), and the decision to establish the security force is within my jurisdiction and within the law. The 3,000 security officials that make up this body come from all the factions and are under the direct authority of the Interior Ministry.”
'Disregard of presidency will lead to further violence'
Siyam announced a plan last month to create the new force, which would be solely under his control. Abbas vetoed the force, which is to number about 3,000 fighters and be headed by Jamal Abu Samhadana, a key player in ongoing rocket attacks on Israel and a suspect in the deadly 2003 bombing of an American convoy in the Gaza Strip.
Ignoring Abbas, Siyam said the unit would begin operating immediately. Within hours, dozens of members of the armed force, all wearing the beards favored by observant Muslims, were deployed in central and southern Gaza. At the Bureij refugee camp, about 75 fighters patrolled the camp or took up positions outside.
Members of a security branch answerable to Abbas stood just a few yards away.
Despite Siyam’s placating statements, sources close the Abbas said that the activation of the new security force is a flagrant violation of the understandings between the two parties. Fatah spokesman Maher Makdaad said that the new security body’s initiation is no less than a “dismissal announcement” for the rest of the Palestinian security forces.
“The disregard for the presidency (Abbas) will only lead to further violence,” Makdaad warned. Throughout the afternoon extreme tensions were reported throughout the Palestinian territories, as fighters from the new security squad deployed in the streets. Most of them were identified as members of Hamas armed wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam and the Popular Resistance Committees.
