Gaza Erupts in Violence:Political, Social and Psychological Distress Ensues

At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded as
Hamas captured the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in
northern Gaza on Tuesday, seizing a key prize in the bloody battle for
control of Gaza.

Six Hamas men were killed in Tuesday in
northern Gaza, and nine other Palestinians were killed throughout the
day, bringing Tuesday's death toll to 25. Since the latest round of
violence broke out Monday, 36 Palestinians have been killed.

About
200 Hamas gunmen surrounded the compound, where some 500 Fatah fighters
were holed up. Hamas fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at the
building.

More than nine in 10 Palestinians show signs of depression caused by despair over violence between Hamas and Fatah gunmen and the apparent demise of the Palestinian unity government, according to a West Bank pollster.

Jamil Rabah, the director of Ramallah-based Near East Consulting, said he found that 92 percent of Palestinian survey respondents suffer from depression-related anxiety, a jump of 15 percent compared with a poll in October and more than double the level from November 2005.

"The higher the level of depression, or discontent, the higher this score comes out, the higher the social fragmentation of society," Mr. Rabah said.

Mr. Rabah said he built a depression index with questions used by the World Health Organization to study the Balkans.

The group polled 801 Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for the latest survey, which has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

The poll was taken last month, following a deadly flare-up between Hamas and Fatah gunmen that left dozens dead in Gaza and laid bare a dysfunctional unity government. The unrest cuts across region, political affiliation and social class, according to the poll findings.