World

Crisis in Gaza

by erikasnyder | June 14, 2007 at 01:38 am

1086 views | 19 Recommendations | 4 comments

Hamas has seized control over the Gaza Strip followed the death of 35 Palestinians killed in the factional fighting. More than 70 people have been killed since Gaza slipped into a full-scale civil war at the beginning of the week.

Abbas was expected to make a "dramatic statement" Thursday morning, which may include the announcement that Fatah will pull out of the Palestinian Authority unity government, Palestinian sources were quoted by Israel Radio as saying.

The announcement would effectively put an end to a power sharing deal that withstood intermittent clashes between the factions since its signing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in March.

Currently Fatah holds several key strategic locations including the Gaza seaport and borders where people may cross in and out of the strip according to an article in The Jersualem Post. However, Hamas is now in control of most of the rest of the Gaza Strip.

Abbas gave his first order to his Presidential Guard to strike against Hamas militants Thursday morning according to The Jerusalem Post.

Earlier, Fatah operatives called on Abbas to order a move from defense to offense, "even at the price of thousands of dead Palestinians," to avoid losing the Gaza Strip to Hamas.

The call to Abbas Thursday morning came after Fatah officials urged Abbas to resign Wednesday night. Fatah members have grown increasingly angry at what they termed Abbas's failure to order a strong counter-attack to Hamas and a lack of clear-cut orders.

As the violence increases, it appears unlikely that the two sides will resume talks any time soon.

"There will be no dialogue with Fatah, only the sword and the rifle," Nezar Rayyan, a top Hamas leader, told Hamas radio on Thursday.

"This is a battle between Muslims and non-believers, and God willing, we will lead the Friday prayer in the president's office, and transform the [Fatah-controlled] security complex into a big mosque."

Both Israel and Egypt are watching the situation with concern as they fear an impending refugee crisis.

Concurrently, hundreds of Fatah men asked Israel to help them flee the Gaza Strip through Gaza seaport, one of the last locations in the strip still held by Fatah, for fear they would be executed by Hamas gunmen if they would remain in Gaza.

According to Israel Radio, Egypt was busy preparing plans to absorb thousands of Palestinians attempting to flee the clashes in Gaza. In addition, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon said he raised in the UN General Council the possibility of sending multi-national forces to the Gaza Strip.

[q
url="http://www.jpost.com/"]In Israel, defense officials said talking with Hamas might become unavoidable, as closing all crossings from the Gaza Strip into Israel to avoid intra-Palestinian violence leaking into Israel would soon cause an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. [/q]