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Al-Aqsa calls on members to 'fight coup'

Chaos in Palestinian Authority reaches new peak: Hamas takes over Fatah bases, headquarters in all of northern Gaza Strip, conquers other wide parts of area. Palestinian president to meet with Fatah leaders to discuss possibility of quitting unity government. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades calls on members to take to streets

A loud explosion was heard Tuesday afternoon near the office of Palestinian President Mamhoud Abbas and some of the Palestinian Authority's security headquarters in Gaza City, sources in the Strip reported. It later turned out that mortar shells were fired at Abbas office. 

 

The Palestinian president plans to meet with senior Fatah members on Tuesday evening to discuss a possibility of quitting the unity government, in light of the situation in the Strip.  

Meanwhile, Hamas members continued their attempts to invade additional security headquarters in Gaza, while Fatah members attempted to stop them.

 

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, announced a state of high alert among its members, and instructed all of its cells to take to the streets of Gaza and face Hamas members.

 

In a leaflet distributed Tuesday afternoon, the al-Aqsa Brigades called on their people to "face those seeking a coup. Defend your dignity and your military integrity. Defend the security of your people."

 

Most clashes in the past few hours have been held between Hamas gunmen and members of the official security organizations. Palestinians fear that if al-Aqsa members join the fighting, the death toll will rise.

 

Two Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Tuesday afternoon. The two, one of them a security officer, were killed in exchanges of fire in the Khan Younis area. At least 19 people were killed in the Strip in the past two days.


Gunmen take to streets (Photo: AFP)

 

On Tuesday afternoon, Hamas fighters captured several positions from the rival Fatah movement and threatened to step up the offensive after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of the Hamas prime minister.

 

Fatah members reported that they had succeeded in taking over a number of routes in the Khan Younis area. Hamas declared the area a closed military zone.

 

In another clash, pro-Fatah security forces attacked the Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV and radio stations in Gaza City. The TV station played pro-Fatah songs, a sign that security forces had taken control.

 

But later, the TV station said it had thwarted the attack, and showed pictures of what it said were Hamas gunmen surrounding captured security vehicles. Witnesses said gunfights were continuing.

 

"Al-Aqsa is still shining," the radio station reported.

 

An al-Aqsa Brigades member told Ynet that in spite of the impression Hamas was trying to create, that the collapse of Fatah and the PA security organizations was an established fact, "We are managing to control many routes in many areas in the Strip."

 

According to the man, "The presidential compound area and the security headquarters around Abu Mazen's (Abbas') office are completely secured."

 

The activist noted that members of the presidential guard were taking over all the routes and buildings overlooking the presidential compound and the headquarters area.

 

"It will not be simple for Hamas to infiltrate the main headquarters, and as long as we have them, the impression Hamas is trying to create that the movement has taken over the Strip is false," he said.

 

He added that Hamas was cleaning out the homes of al-Aqsa gunmen and Fatah members. According to him, Hamas was trying to establish an independent rule in the Strip. "We will not let them, and we will continue fighting."

 

Samih al-Madhun, an al-Aqsa leader whose northern Strip home was completely burned in the clashes, threatened that his movement would use Hamas' methods to target the homes of families and innocent people, including women and children from the population affiliated with Hamas.

 

"In the past few days we refrained from adopting Hamas' methods, but Hamas is leaving us with no choice," he added.

 

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti urged the European Union on Tuesday to recognize the Palestinian unity government and resume direct financial aid payments, blaming the international embargo for the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

 

"Our aim is to convince the EU to try to stop this embargo and deal directly with the Palestinian Authority," Barghouti said before meeting with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner. "They have to understand that if we did not have this embargo, the whole situation would have been much better," he told the Associated Press.  

 

Clashes headed to West Bank?

Abu Nasr, A senior al-Aqsa official in the West Bank, told Ynet that his people were looking into the possibility of moving the battles to the West Bank.

 

"We don’t want to play into Israel's hands, but in spite of our calls, it appears that Hamas is insisting on dragging Fatah into a conflict inside the West Bank."

 

Fatah's central committee is expected to convene Tuesday night in order to look into the movement's future in the Palestinian unity government. Sources in the PA estimated that Fatah will set a deadline to Hamas to halt the fighting or face a dissolution of the government.

 

The Physicians for Human Rights organization called on the Palestinians to stop the mutual killing at Gaza's hospitals.

 

"The collapse of the civilian systems as a result of the continued economic boycott on the Palestinian Authority has fatally undermined the ability of rescue teams to act effectively," the organization said in a statement.

 

Hamas warned Palestinian security officers to evacuate Fatah posts. "We do not wish to take over the Strip, we wish to take over the power centers used by Israel and US supporters," a senior Hamas member told Ynet.

   

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused his Hamas rivals of staging a coup.

 

"All information points to a trend in which some of the political and military leaders of Hamas are planning a coup against the legitimate institutions, thinking they will be able to control the Gaza Strip by force," Abbas' office said in a statement.

 

There were no injuries in the early-morning attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home - the second in two days. But the attack underscored the increasingly ruthless nature of the fighting. Exasperated Egyptian mediators said the bitter rivals turned down an appeal to meet for truce talks.

 

Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd al-Rahman said the organization’s central committee was reconsidering its part in the Palestinian unity government due to the violent clashes.


Haniyeh's home after attack (photo: Reuters)

 

Hamas’ military wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, published a warning to Palestinian security officials affiliated with Fatah not to report for duty due to the infighting in Gaza.

 

The warning said that any security official seen in the streets would be “suspected of participating in the injury of the Palestinian people and may get hurt”.

 

Exchanges of fire between the rival factions continued, with witnesses reporting of an attack by Hamas gunmen on the home of Fatah’s spokesman in the Strip, Maher Miqdad. Two Hamas members were injured during the assault.

 

In the early hours of Tuesday morning three teenage girls belonging to the same family, as well as a 70-year-old woman, were killed in the infighting.

 

Palestinian sources later reported that Fatah gunmen shot and killed a Hamas member, raising the number of dead in clashes between the two parties since Monday to 18.

 

According to the reports, the man who was killed was identified as Amro Rantisi, the nephew of Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz Rantisi who was assassinated by the IDF in 2004.

 

Gun battles were also reported in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.

 

Earlier, Hamas gunmen stormed and seized control of a Fatah-affiliated mosque; the Islamist group has declared a heightened state of alert. 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.12.07, 09:24
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