US 'to unblock' Palestinian aid

The US will lift a 15-month embargo on aid to the Palestinians once a new emergency government excluding Hamas is sworn in, a US diplomat has said.

US consul-general in Jerusalem Jacob Walles said there were no obstacles to re-engaging with the new government, which would have full US support.

Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to swear in a new prime minister on Sunday.

He sacked the Hamas-led government after clashes left more than 100 dead.

On Saturday, violence between the rival factions spread from Gaza to the West Bank, as Fatah gunmen stormed the Hamas-controlled Palestinian parliament building in Ramallah.

Quartet backing

Mr Welles met President Abbas on Saturday and said afterwards that he expected announcements in Washington about "our assistance and about the financial regulations" early next week.

"There won't be any obstacles, economically and politically, in terms of re-engaging with this [emergency] government," he told Reuters news agency.

The quartet of Middle East peace mediators - the US, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - has also said it backs the decision to dissolve the Hamas led-administration.

Western nations imposed sanctions on the Palestinians after Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by the US and EU, won elections in January 2006.

Hamas has denounced the move to form an emergency administration as illegal.

Last week, it ousted Fatah from Gaza after a week of fierce fighting.

On Saturday, Fatah gunmen seized the parliament building in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Second deputy speaker Hassan Khuraishah, an independent, told the BBC he had been beaten up as he tried to prevent Fatah gunmen from raising their flag.

In a show of strength, Fatah supporters paraded around Ramallah, firing weapons into the air and chanting "Hamas out".

Almost all Hamas politicians and prominent supporters in Ramallah have either fled or gone into hiding.

Fatah supporters also took over the Hamas-controlled legislative council in Nablus.

Fleeing Gaza

Meanwhile, hundreds of Fatah supporters are reported to have been fleeing Hamas-controlled Gaza by land and sea.

Gaza, and the much larger West Bank, are just 45km (30 miles) apart, but correspondents say they now look poised to function as two separate territories.

President Abbas declared a state of emergency when he sacked the government of Ismail Haniya on Thursday.

Mr Abbas has said he will rule by presidential decree until conditions are right for early elections.

His nominee for prime minister, Salam Fayyad, is a former World Bank economist, whose impending appointment Israel has welcomed.

Palestinian Unity Governmet Dissolved

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, dissolved the unity government today, dismissing the prime minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and announced the establishment of a temporary emergency government until new elections can be held.
Mr. Abbas, who belongs to Fatah, also declared a state of emergency in measures that were announced by his aides in Ramallah and Gaza.
The decisions were taken as Mr. Abbas faced the further collapse of his power as fierce clashes continued and Hamas fighters took over the headquarters of Fatah’s Preventive Security forces and the military intelligence building in Gaza City.
Today’s assaults on Fatah put Hamas close to full control of Gaza. Only the presidential compound of Mr. Abbas and the Suraya headquarters of the National Security Forces, the Palestinian army, remained under Fatah’s control. But Hamas had surrounded Al Suraya, calling on the occupants to surrender, and the compound was under attack today.
Mr. Abbas came under pressure from within Fatah and from some of his other allies to suspend participation in the so-called unity government with Hamas, which began in March, and to declare a state of emergency.
As Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza, the fall of the headquarters of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security forces, in the Tal el-Hawa district of Gaza City, was especially significant.
It would have powerful resonance for both Fatah and Hamas. Preventive Security is an elite national security force that was founded by Mohammed Dahlan, a Fatah strongman, and was considered to be one of the most important Fatah forces in Gaza.
After the capture of the headquarters, witnesses said Hamas fighters dragged the vanquished Fatah gunmen outside and executed them on the street, The Associated Press reported.
As Hamas moved closer to securing full control of the Gaza Strip, the European Union suspended its humanitarian aid projects in the area, The A.P. said. The European Union also called for a “humanitarian truce” to allow the wounded to be evacuated, the A.P. said.
The powerful Hamas move to exert authority in Gaza and the poor response by the larger security forces supposedly loyal to Fatah have raised troubling questions for Mr. Abbas and Israel and have left the White House, which supports Mr. Abbas, with a dwindling menu of policy options.
Mr. Abbas now faces a putative Palestinian state divided into a West Bank run by Fatah and a Gaza run by Hamas.
Hamas forces had consolidated their control over much of Gaza during fighting on Wednesday. Hamas took command of the main north-south road and blew up a Fatah headquarters in Khan Yunis, in the south.
By Wednesday evening, in northern Gaza and Gaza City, Hamas military men, many of them in black masks, moved unchallenged through the streets as Fatah fighters ran short of arms and ammunition and abandoned their posts.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel has warned of “regional consequences” if Gaza fell under the complete control of Hamas, an Islamist movement that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas control of Gaza would limit Israel’s ability to negotiate with Mr. Abbas, as Washington wants.
Hamas spokesmen said the movement had no political goal except to defend itself from a group within Fatah collaborating with Israel and the United States. They said they wanted to bring the security forces under the control of the unity government, in which Fatah agreed to play a part until the current fighting.
Some Israeli security officials say Israel wants to see the West Bank isolated from Gaza, even more so with Hamas in control there. One official suggested that Hamas’s show of strength in Gaza would make it more likely that the Israeli military would intervene there this summer to cut back Hamas’s military power. The Israeli security services say Hamas, which is able to smuggle weapons and explosives from Egypt, is developing a sophisticated army on the model of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said Israel did not see “the implosion of the Palestinian Authority in anyone’s interest.” In Gaza, he added, “the clear strength that Hamas is demonstrating on the ground is a problem for us, and a challenge.”
“It’s a problem for the Palestinians, too,” Mr. Regev said. “Our whole policy is to work with moderate pragmatic Palestinians who believe in peace, and Hamas hegemony in Gaza is not good for Israel, for the Palestinians or for peace.”
Since the election victory of Hamas in January 2006, the United States and Israel have worked to isolate and damage Hamas and build up Fatah with recognition and weaponry. Asked whether the Hamas gains showed the failure of that policy, Mr. Regev said: “I don’t think Israel or the international community should give up on Palestinian moderates. That would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Some in Israel, however, are beginning to ask whether it might make sense to have indirect discussions with Hamas, which is clearly not going away.

Abbas sacks Hamas-led government

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed the Hamas-led coalition government and declared a state of emergency.

Aides to Mr Abbas said the president would call elections as soon as possible in an effort to end fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza.

A Hamas spokesman immediately dismissed the president's decision.

Hamas fighters have overrun much of Gaza, capturing key security buildings and hailing Gaza's "liberation".

More than 100 people have died during a week of violent battles on the streets of Gaza.

Mr Abbas will now rule by presidential decree.

Aides to Mr Abbas said he dismissed the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and was preparing to appoint an independent as prime minister.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says that once the decree is signed, the West Bank and Gaza Strip will effectively be split from one another - Gaza run by Hamas and the West Bank by Fatah.

'Outlaws'

An aide to Mr Abbas, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, announced the president's decision in the West Bank town of Ramallah.


map
In practical terms these decisions are worthless
Sami Abu Zuhri
Hamas spokesman

Rivals: Fatah and Hamas
Q&A: Gaza chaos
"I [Abbas] have issued the following decree: the sacking of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

"Second, the proclamation of the state of emergency in all the Palestinian territories because of the criminal war in the Gaza Strip, the taking over of the security services of the Palestinian Authority, the military coup and the armed rebellion by outlaws."

Mr Abbas was determined to "go back to the people" to hold elections as soon as the situation was calm and allowed arrangements to be made, Mr Rahim added.

He was also open to the idea of an international peacekeeping force being deployed in the region, his aide said.

But Hamas swiftly rejected Mr Abbas' decision.

"In practical terms these decisions are worthless," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

"Prime Minister Haniya remains the head of the government even if it was dissolved by the president," he told Reuters news agency.

Hamas won a surprise victory in Palestinian elections in early 2006, but has since been engaged in a violent power struggle with Mr Abbas' Fatah faction.

Hamas 'takeover'

Earlier, Hamas fighters swept through the Gaza Strip, winning control of key Fatah power bases in pitched gunbattles.

Fatah's Preventative Security building and the intelligence service headquarters in Gaza City fell to Hamas.

Hamas gunmen also overran the town of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border.

At least 20 Palestinians died throughout Gaza in the course of the day.

Hamas, an Islamic organisation, rose to prominence in Gaza during two Palestinian uprisings, and refuses to recognise or negotiate with Israel.

Fatah, a secular political grouping headed by Mr Abbas, ran the Palestinian Authority until 2006 and officially recognises the Jewish state.

The two groups were nominally working together in a three-month-old government of national unity.

From: Saim's Blog



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