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Israel hits back after Abbas fails to halt Hamas
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 16/07/2005)
An attempt by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, to stop Hamas militants firing rockets at Israeli targets led to chaos in Gaza yesterday.
Palestinian police and Hamas gunmen fought running battles, killing at least two civilian bystanders, after Mr Abbas sought to exert his authority on the militants who threaten to wreck the planned Israeli withdrawal from settlements in Gaza next month.
A Palestinian police vehicle burns
A Palestinian police armoured troop carrier was set on fire by militants during the battle
As the violence erupted, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli premier, dispatched aircraft to pick off militants with a series of targeted strikes in Gaza and the West Bank, killing at least five.
In Gaza City, militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades launched an assault on a police station and in the melee an armoured troop carrier belonging to the Palestinian Authority's security services was set on fire.
Middle East factfile
With the police struggling to establish control, the authority declared a state of emergency.
The crisis in Gaza began late on Thursday when Hamas attacked Jewish targets. A volley of four rockets was launched towards the village of Netiv Ha'asara, which lies just inside Israel, killing a 22-year-old woman.
The Israeli air force launched the first retaliatory strikes within hours but the violence worsened when forces loyal to Mr Abbas tried to disarm the militants.
Police attempted to stop a car carrying six Hamas operatives as they were preparing a fresh rocket attack. The police are believed to have opened fire, injuring the six men, prompting an immediate and overwhelming response from other Hamas gunmen.
Hundreds of civilians came out to watch the clashes, in which Hamas used mortars, and two young men were killed when they were hit in the crossfire.
Hamas defiantly continued firing salvoes of rockets at Jewish property yesterday, prompting the Israeli air force to respond with a series of retaliatory strikes by helicopter gun-ships.
In one strike on Gaza City, a van carrying a group of Hamas militants and a cache of homemade rockets was destroyed. The explosion scattered debris for hundreds of yards.
The bloodshed capped a week that has featured the worst violence since a ceasefire signed by the Palestinian and Israeli leaders at the Sharm el Sheikh peace summit in February.
It has raised the prospect of a delay to Israel's planned closure of settlements. The government has repeatedly said it would not authorise Jewish settlers to withdraw "under fire".
Hamas enjoys huge popularity in Gaza, where it has thousands of armed members. Israeli observers often refer to Gaza becoming "Hamastan" once the Jewish settlers leave.
Mr Abbas has repeatedly said he will try to disarm the extremists responsible for terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, on Israel but his security forces are known to be weak, poorly led and poorly motivated.
Unless Mr Abbas can deliver an improvement in the security situation, he risks losing international credibility, so early yesterday he ordered his police and security officers to take on Hamas.
The Palestinian interior minister, Nasser Yousef, who is responsible for the authority's security forces, said Mr Abbas gave clear instructions to use any measures necessary, including force, to prevent rocket and mortar fire.
Hamas held a press conference yesterday accusing the authority of doing Israel's work. It said its armed wing would "not give in to attempts to stop rocket fire".
The fighting does not augur well for elections that have already been delayed once by Mr Abbas, fearful that his Fatah faction would lose out to Hamas.
As well as being a well-organised paramilitary group, Hamas has shown itself capable of winning at the ballot box, and many forecasts show that it could beat the ruling Fatah faction.
This was believed to be behind Mr Abbas's decision to delay a general election in Gaza and the West Bank that was due this month.
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Kathianne said:Looks like Hamas is winning:
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/16/wmid16.xml
