Gaza slides closer to civil war
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Gaza slides closer to civil war*
By Tim Butcher in Gaza City
Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 16/12/2006
Hamas supporters demanded death for their Fatah rivals yesterday at a
rally where they gave the Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh a
rousing welcome hours after he survived an assassination attempt.
As gunmen from both factions fought gun battles in the occupied
territories, Mr Haniyeh, who heads the Islamist Hamas government, was
cheered wildly as he mocked those who suggested he was afraid of dying.
Hamas officials blamed the rival Fatah movement for the assassination
attempt on Thursday. Mr Haniyeh said: "We tell all those who believe in
the logic of assassination that this does not scare even little children
in Hamas. We joined this movement to become martyrs, not ministers."
Earlier, the crowd of 20,000 listened as Khalil al-Hayya, the head of
the Hamas parliamentary bloc, accused the Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas of
being willing to spark civil conflict. "What a war, Mahmoud Abbas, you
are launching, first against God, and then against Hamas," he said.
While Mr Abbas said that he "regretted" that Mr Haniyeh's entourage had
come under attack, and the exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal called for
restraint "to protect Palestinian blood", the events of the last 24
hours amounted to a dramatic worsening of the security situation in the
West Bank and Gaza which many now fear could slide into civil war.
In the most serious of yesterday's skirmishes, Fatah gunmen attacked a
mosque in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the West Bank, where Hamas
gunmen were praying. At least 32 people were injured in the fighting.
Last night the streets of Gaza City cleared as people cowered at home
fearing further clashes.
A father shields his children from the fighting on the streets of Ramallah
The day began with Hamas accusing Fatah of orchestrating an attempt on
the life of Mr Haniyeh shortly after he returned to Gaza from a foreign
fund-raising trip. Gunmen shot at Mr Haniyeh's convoy and while he
escaped unscathed one of his bodyguards was killed and 27 others
injured, including Mr Haniyeh's son, Abed.
The incident overshadowed what was meant to be a day of celebration for
Hamas, which was marking the 19th anniversary since it was founded. A
massive anniversary rally in the Yamouk stadium in Gaza City was turned
into a protest demonstration against Fatah and, in particular, one of
its local leaders, Mohammed Dahlan, accused by Hamas of orchestrating
the attack.
Speaker after speaker denounced Mr Dahlan, prompting the crowd to chant
"collaborator, collaborator". In the lexicon of Palestinian politics
there is no term more damning. Collaborators accused of working on
behalf of Israel are summarily executed.
Mr Dahlan was not in Gaza yesterday having travelled to the West Bank to
attend a speech by Mr Abbas today. Mr Dahlan's return to Gaza will be a
massive test of the stability of the current security climate.
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The rally was an extravaganza of struggle iconography attended by all
the senior figures of the Hamas movement as well as thousands of foot
soldiers. Women and girls were allowed to attend but they were
restricted to a special female section. Speakers mounted a stage where a
massive poster showed seven Hamas luminaries who had all been killed, or
"martyred", by Israel. One of the seven was the wheelchair-bound
spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, assassinated in early 2004.
Under a forest of green Hamas flags, the crowd listened to hours of
martial, Muslim music and watched as gunmen from the military wing of
Hamas, the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, displayed their prowess.
Two of the gunmen wearing masks and webbing abseiled down the wall of a
block of flats, unfolding as they descended a massive picture of a
female Hamas suicide bomber. Fatma al Najar blew herself up last month
in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Israeli troops occupying the north
Gazan town of Beit Hanoun. Aged 70, she earned the status of the oldest
Palestinian female suicide bomber.
While the rally might normally have been expected to focus on Israel, it
was the crisis with Fatah that dominated proceedings.
The rally erupted when Mr Haniyeh arrived. His Mercedes, with bodyguards
standing on the roof, crawled through the teeming crowd. To a crescendo
of celebratory gunfire, Mr Haniyeh began a portentous speech in which he
mentioned Israel only briefly.
He spent more time attacking the policies of Mr Abbas and trying to
pre-empt suggestions that the president of the Palestinian national
authority might be about to announce a referendum.
The referendum would be on whether elections should be held to try to
break the current deadlock in Palestinian politics which sees Hamas
controlling the parliament and Fatah the presidency.