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State Department Urges Reporters To Leave Gaza

By ELI LAKE
Staff Reporter of the Sun
June 13, 2007

 WASHINGTON — The State Department is recommending that three American journalists now based in Gaza leave the Palestinian Arab-controlled territory in light of a brewing Fatah-Hamas war for power.

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that the Palestinian Arab prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, narrowly escaped a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his home — an attack that he says was a Fatah assassination attempt.

Meanwhile, Fatah Party leaders and legislators met to decide whether the party founded by Yasser Arafat still would participate in the Palestinian Arab government.

With Fatah apparently having lost control of the northern part of the enclosed Gaza Strip, Israel now faces the prospect that a territory that it vacated in 2005 will be controlled in 2007 by Hamas, a party bound by its charter to destroy the Jewish state.

Since mid-May, more than 80 Palestinian Arabs have been killed. Hamas reportedly receives arms and money from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the official head of the Hamas Party, Khaled Meshaal, is based in Damascus, Syria.

In this environment, the State Department quietly asked major American news organizations not to send correspondents to the territory and recommended that the McClatchey News service, National Public Radio, and the Daily Telegraph of London recall their reporters from the war zone.

Yesterday, one of those reporters, Charles Levinson of the Telegraph, said he would stay for now.

"Our movement is limited, and we're basically confined to a Fatah-controlled enclave around the president's compound right now. But all three of us have experience reporting in conflict zones, in Iraq, Lebanon, and in Gaza, and we feel we can operate here with minimal risk, or else we wouldn't be here," he said in an instant message.

The State Department is worried that an American reporter could be kidnapped, as was Alan Johnston, a BBC correspondent who was taken hostage on March 12 by a group calling itself the Islamic Army. On June 1, a Web video of Mr. Johnston surfaced where he appeared forced to repeat a script about the suffering of Gazans and the imperial wishes of Britain in their assault on Islamic lands.

A State Department official yesterday described the message to the three news outlets as follows: "The line was you don't want to end up like the BBC Allen Johnston right now." Another State Department official said the word to news organizations was sent through the consulate in Jerusalem. This official added that there was no specific intelligence about plans to kidnap more journalists.

The conflict in Gaza today in some ways represents a pending failure for American foreign policy since 1991, when the first President Bush authorized the CIA to begin recruiting members of Arafat's old Fatah Party based in Tunisia for the future security services of the Palestinian Authority. One of the biggest points of contention for Hamas today is that they have not been able to put their men in charge of the Palestinian Arab security services and national police. Those institutions, for the most part, are still run by men loyal to Fatah.

Mr. Levinson yesterday said Fatah's refusal to share control over the four main security and police forces for the Palestinian Authority was a major grievance for Hamas. "It's hard to see a political negotiated settlement unless real compromises are made on control of security forces," he said.

As it stands now, many of the leaders that America hoped would fight Hamas are missing in action. For example, the founder of the preventive security service in Gaza, Mahmoud Dahlan, is undergoing hospital treatment in Cairo and has not been in Gaza for three months. Last month, the current Fatah security chief in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shabak, resigned his post after Hamas gunmen raided his home and killed six of his bodyguards.

For almost a year, America has quietly funded a program aimed at giving counterterrorism training to the personal guard force loyal to President Abbas of Fatah.

State Department Urges Reporters To Leave Gaza (http://www.nysun.com/article/56426)

Hamas Launches Fierce Assault on Fatah Forces

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

AP

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —
Hamas fighters launched a fierce offensive on Gaza City Wednesday, firing mortars and rockets at Fatah's main security bases and the president's compound as the Islamic group appeared close to taking control of the entire Gaza Strip.

Fatah's forces were crumbling fast, with some fighters seen fleeing their security posts and hundreds of others surrendering, hands raised, to masked Hamas gunmen.

A Hamas military victory in Gaza could split Palestinians into a Hamas-controlled Gaza and a Fatah-run West Bank, and push the prospect of statehood even further away. It could also set the stage for a bloody confrontation with Israel, which might intervene to prevent attacks from Gaza.

In the southern town of Khan Younis, Hamas militants surrounded a security headquarters and warned everyone inside to leave or they would blow it up, witnesses said. The building was then destroyed by a bomb planted in a tunnel underneath it, said Ali Qaisi, a presidential guard spokesman.

An Associated Press reporter saw defeated Fatah fighters streaming out of the building after turning over their weapons to Hamas militants. Hamas took weapons, clothes and vehicles and flew a green Islamic flag over the building, then celebrated by firing in the air and passing out candy.

Security forces later said they had lost control of the town.

"Khan Younis is finished," said Ziad Sarafandi, a senior security official.

At least 20 people were killed in fighting Wednesday. A Hamas militant was killed in a clash early Thursday in the southern town of Rafah, hospital officials said, bringing the total in four days of infighting to over 60. Among those killed Wednesday was a man shot when Hamas gunmen fired on a peaceful protest against the violence, witnesses said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called the fighting "madness" and pleaded with the exiled leader of Hamas to halt the violence.

Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas issued a joint statement after nightfall, calling on all sides "to halt fighting, and to return to language of dialogue and respect of agreements," according to a statement from Abbas' office. The call was broadcast on Palestinian TV.

Hamas radio denied the two had agreed to a truce, and clashes intensified in the hour after their statement was broadcast.

Hamas and Fatah nominally share power in a coalition government, while Fatah runs most of Gaza's security forces. But no one was listening to the elected leaders' pleas for calm as the focus of power passed to street militias.

Hamas gunmen neutralized the main strongholds of the Fatah-linked security forces, ruling the streets and taking control of large parts of Gaza in the process.

Abbas' forces — desperately trying to cling to their besieged bases in Gaza — lashed out at the president, saying he left them with no directions and no support in the fight.

Hamas and Fatah have waged a sporadic power struggle since Hamas won parliament elections last year, ending four decades of Fatah dominance of Palestinian affairs. But the battle is now verging on civil war, as Hamas wages a systematic assault on security forces.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he discussed the possible deployment of a multinational force in Gaza with the Security Council on Wednesday after the Israeli and Palestinian leaders raised the idea.

With fighting raging on rooftops and streets in nearly all corners of Gaza, residents huddled in fear in their homes.

Hamas, already in control of much of northern Gaza, seized Khan Younis on Wednesday and began a coordinated assault on the southern town of Rafah, security officials said.

Hamas militants blew up a security building near Rafah after a long gunbattle, said Col. Nasser Khaldi, a senior police official.

"What can I say? This is a fall, a collapse," he said.

Visit FOXNews.com's Mideast Center for more in-depth coverage.

Fayez Abu Taha, 45, a businessman in Rafah, said he was trapped in his apartment building with his family after Hamas fighters took over a nearby rooftop and Fatah responded by taking over the roof of his building.

"I don't know what they are battling for now," he said. "I can see the bullets flying from my windows. Coming and going."

The rout of the security forces was so bad that 40 Palestinian security officers broke through the border fence in Rafah and fled into Egypt seeking safety, Egyptian police said.

In the afternoon, Hamas forces attacked the three main compounds of the Fatah-allied forces in Gaza City — the headquarters of the Preventive Security, the Intelligence Service and the National Forces — in what could usher in the final phase of the battle.

Hamas fighters, firing rockets and mortar shells, took over the rooftops in nearby houses and cut off the roads to prevent reinforcements from arriving. They called on the beleaguered Fatah forces to surrender.

Hamas gunmen in high-rise buildings also fired at Abbas' Gaza office and house and his guard force returned fire. Abbas was in the West Bank at the time of the fighting.

During the battle at the Preventive Security Service base, both sides fired wildly from high-rise rooftops.

Dr. Wael Abdel Jawad, a physician trapped in his apartment, said he heard Fatah fighters shouting at colleagues on an adjacent roof to send them more ammunition.

"All of us are terrified here. Shooting came through the windows of our apartment, children are screaming. We are hearing from a nearby mosque the call by Hamas to surrender," he said.

"Those fighters on rooftops are like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. They don't know where to shoot," he said.

In another dramatic battle in Gaza City, hundreds of members of the Fatah-allied Bakr clan, which had fought fiercely for two days, surrendered to masked Hamas gunmen and were led, arms raised, to a nearby mosque. Footage broadcast on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV showed some of the Bakr women trying to enter the mosque. Hamas gunmen later drove off with some of the Bakr fighters, witnesses said.

Two women from the clan tried to leave the area to take a sick girl to a hospital and were shot and killed by jittery Hamas gunmen, a clan member said.

After nightfall, Hamas militants blew up the house of one of the Bakr clan's leaders, witnesses said.

Early Thursday, Fatah officials said their forces withdrew from some bases in central Gaza and destroyed them, rather than allow them to fall into Hamas hands.

In Washington, U.S. officials condemned the fighting.

"Violence certainly does not serve the interest of the Palestinian people, and it's not going to bring the peace and prosperity that they deserve," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

"They are shooting at anyone and everyone who is Fatah," said Youssef Abu Siyam, a Preventive Security officer in Rafah.

The fighting spilled into the Fatah-dominated West Bank. Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire in the city of Nablus and a nearby refugee camp after Fatah gunmen tried to storm a pro-Hamas TV production company. Hamas said 12 of its fighters were wounded.

Hamas charged that Fatah-linked security forces were rounding up Hamas activists in the West Bank early Thursday.

On Wednesday, Abbas spoke by phone with the Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to try to stop the crisis, said Abbas aide Nimr Hamad.

"This is madness, the madness that is going on in Gaza now," Abbas told reporters.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to Palestinian refugees, said it would curtail its operations after two of its Palestinian workers were killed by crossfire.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, said the clashes could have been avoided if Abbas had given the Hamas-led Cabinet control over the security forces, which he blamed for a wave of kidnappings, torture and violence in Gaza.

Hamas Launches Fierce Assault on Fatah Forces (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,281515,00.html)

I wonder what the Syrians think of all this.  Perhaps this is why they are reportedly now seeking peace with Israel instead of threatening a war in August.  Israel no longer has Gaza as a distraction. Their enemies there are killing each other. 

Just about the time you think you have things figured out in the Mid-East............... :-\

Fatah officials call for Mahmoud Abbas to resign
Khaled Abu Toameh and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 13, 2007

Hamas neared control of the entire Gaza Strip after a day of battles in which the Islamist fighters dislodged rival Fatah forces from key positions, sending some fleeing into Egypt, surrendering or destroying their bases instead of turning them over.

Fatah forces were crumbling fast. Early Thursday, Fatah abandoned positions in central Gaza and blew them up, with Hamas forces advancing through the crowded, poverty-stricken seaside territory.

Earlier Wednesday, Fatah officials and activists in the West Bank called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to resign, holding him responsible for the fact that Hamas was now in control of most parts of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas talked by phone Wednesday night for the first time since the latest cycle of violence broke out. A source close to Abbas said the two agreed to issue a joint call for a cease-fire.

The calls for Abbas's resignation came as Hamas militiamen scored more victories in their battle to take control over the Gaza Strip. More than 30 Palestinians were killed in Wednesday's fighting, which also spread to some parts of the West Bank.

Fatah officials here confirmed that Hamas had seized large amounts of weapons and military equipment belonging to Abbas's security forces in the Gaza Strip. Some of the weapons were supplied to the PA in recent weeks by Egypt and Jordan as part of a US security plan to boost Fatah-controlled forces.

Hamas said it had seized thousands of M-16 and Kalashnikov rifles and pistols, communication equipment, armored vehicles, trucks, binoculars, military outfits, tents, sleeping bags, hand grenades, mortars and documents.

Hamas militiamen were seen driving some of the confiscated vehicles that have been decorated with Hamas flags and signs.

Pictures of the weapons were posted on a number of Hamas-linked Web sites. "Most of the weapons came from Egypt and Jordan over the past few years," a senior Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post. "They did not come directly from the US, although the Americans had initiated the supply of weapons and ammunition."

Hamas representative Sami Abu Zuhri announced that his movement was now in control of 90 percent of the PA security installations and bases in the Gaza Strip. "We are not fighting against the entire Fatah party, but certain murderous elements who have been collaborating with Israel and the Americans," he said.

At a stormy meeting of Fatah leaders here, Abbas came under severe criticism for failing to issue clear orders to the PA security forces and Fatah militias in the Gaza Strip to launch counterattacks on Hamas.

Furious Fatah leaders demanded that Abbas declare a state of emergency and call early elections. They also expressed dismay with the way Abbas was handling the current crisis.

"Hamas is slaughtering our sons in the Gaza Strip and the only thing our president is doing is appealing for a cease-fire," said one Fatah leader. "We have at least 40,000 police officers and militiamen in the Gaza Strip. What's preventing them from launching a massive attack on Hamas? Does the president want to see the Gaza Strip fall into the hands of Hamas?"

Another top Fatah official called on Abbas to step down. "The president must resign," he said. "Unless he takes real measures to halt the Hamas offensive, President Abbas will face a revolt by Fatah."

After managing to capture most of the northern and southern pats of the Gaza Strip, Hamas militiamen on Wednesday launched full-scale attacks on PA security installations in Gaza City. They also attacked Abbas's residence and headquarters in the city with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

"Hamas is now fighting for control of Gaza City," said a local Palestinian journalist. "It's only a matter of time before Hamas takes full control of the city because the Palestinian security forces, especially the Presidential Guard, are only defending themselves."

Fatah suffered yet another major blow in Gaza City when members of the powerful Baker clan surrendered to Hamas on Wednesday. The clan, known for its close ties with Fatah, lives in the Shati refugee camp, where Haniyeh also resides.

Hundreds of men, women and children emerged from the camp with their hands raised behind their heads. Others carried white sheets in a sign of surrender. Eyewitnesses said the clan members were taken to a local mosque, where three men were murdered execution-style by Hamas gunmen.

PA security sources reported that at least 50 Fatah militiamen and security officers fled to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, where they sought political asylum.

Sources close to Hamas told the Post that the Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of various armed groups, had joined Hamas in the fight against the PA security forces and Fatah militiamen.

The sources also claimed that dozens of PA policemen had surrendered and handed over their weapons to Hamas in the past 24 hours.

General Musbah Buhaisi, commander of Abbas's Presidential Guard in the Gaza Strip, was said to have fled to the West Bank following death threats by Hamas.

Earlier, Hamas used more than a ton of explosives to blow up the headquarters of the PA Preventive Security Service in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Many security officers were buried under the rubble of the building that was completely destroyed. Hamas also succeeded in occupying a number of PA security installations in Rafah.

Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, issued an ultimatum to all PA policemen to hand over their weapons and leave their bases b Friday evening.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for Izaddin Kassam, said his men were determined to "get rid of all the filthy Fatah elements that have been terrorizing and extorting the Palestinian public for many years."

Meanwhile, in Hamas-Fatah clashes in Nablus and Jenin on Wednesday, Fatah gunmen attacked a number of Hamas-run institutions and kidnapped 12 Hamas supporters.

Fatah officials call for Mahmoud Abbas to resign (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570268148&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hamas: We'll execute Fatah leaders

At least 10 dead as Hamas overruns Fatah's Preventive Security headquarters, intelligence services building in Gaza. Official Hamas television broadcasts from inside building, displaying weapons 'sent by Israel.' Hamas gunmen: 'This is the first step in the establishment of an Islamic state'
Ali Waked

Hamas gunmen on Thursday afternoon captured the second of four major Fatah command centers in Gaza City, planting the group's green flag on the roof of the intelligence services building. Earlier in the day Hamas seized control of the the Palestinian Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza, reportedly executing witnesses and several defeated Fatah members. At least 10 people were killed.

Meanwhile a large explosion rocked Gaza City as Fatah forces abandoned a security post and blew it up as they left, saying they would rather destory the post than leave it for Hamas.

Hamas took over vehicles and weapons in the Preventive Security compound, one of the Palestinian Authority's enduring symbols in the Strip. Strongly identified with Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, the organization has even cooperated with Israel  in the past on security issues.

Hamas' official television station broadcasted reports from inside the compound, where senior Hamas members have been taken for questioning in the past.

Hamas TV also showcased a display of weapons seized from inside the building, as well as jeeps, mortar shells and bulletproof vests seized in the compound, which according to Hamas, were smuggled to Fatah by Israel and the Americans in the past few months through the border with Egypt.

Name changed, as well as mission

Hamas members held a prayer in the compound, which they referred to as the "heresy compound." Hamas also changed the name of the neighborhood where the building is located from "Tel al-Hawa" to "Tel al-Islam."

Hamas' media outlets threatened to reach Fatah and the PA's official radio and telelvision stations, and provided the names of senior Fatah officials they planned to execute. "We will reach you," Hamas members told the Fatah leaders.

Meanwhile, the gunmen collected weapons and ammunitions from the Fatah members' homes and from families affiliated with them.

"This is the first step in the establishment of the Islamic state," a Hamas member told Ynet from inside the Preventive Security Service building. "This is Islam's victory, Allah's victory, and we pray to Allah for brining us this victory."

Hamas officials announced that the building would turn into a college for religion studies, and that the Sariya – the PA's government office building – would turn into a large religious center.

Aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he had given the first order to his elite presidential guard to strike back against Hamas rivals.

Displaying weapons
Fatah launched a wave of arrests in the West Bank On Wednesday night, and has so far arrested 30 Hamas members. On Thursday afternoon, Abbas met with the PLO's Executive Committee, which recommended that he disband the unity government and declare a state of emergency in Gaza.

The Palestinian president is also considering declaring the Gaza Strip a "rebelling district" and saying that the only legal and official rule in the Palestinian Authority was in Ramllah.

This would force Hamas to decide whether it wants to run the Strip on its own, with all the political and economic consequences. PA officials said that Hamas did in fact smuggle large sums of money into the Strip, but that they doubted whether these sums would be able to fund the Strip's activity for more than a short period.

Hamas sources said that after taking over the Preventive Security Service building, they would move to Muntada and Ansar compounds, where Abbas' office and the rest of the PA's security headquarters are located, and would also take over the Palestinian television building.

Meanwhile, Fatah has begun broadcasting security instructions to the Palestinian security officers on television, calling on them not to surrender to Hamas. The television warned of a military coup and cautioned the Palestinians not to be lured in by the propaganda and the psychological war led by Hamas.

Hamas: We'll execute Fatah leaders  (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3412813,00.html)

Abbas orders presidential guard to attack Hamas

Gaza clashes continue in full force Thursday morning, as Hamas completes takeover of large parts of Strip. More than 80 Palestinians killed in past five days. Fatah begins arresting senior Hamas members; Palestinian president's advisor says 'Hamas is drunk with power, acting like Israel'

Ali Waked and agencies
Latest Update:    06.14.07, 12:17 / Israel News

More than 80 Palestinians – most of them gunmen, but some civilians and children – were killed in the past week in the civil war taking place in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas.

Another three Palestinians were killed Wednesday night, and the clashes between Hamas fighters and Fatah gunmen continued in full force Thursday morning, mainly in Fatah's Preventive Security Service compound in Gaza City.

Aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he had given the first order to his elite presidential guard to strike back against Hamas rivals.

On Thursday morning, members of Hamas' military wing completed the takeover of all the buildings overlooking the Preventive Security Service building. According to Hamas officials, dozens of the service's members, which is considered one of the strongest organizations in the Strip, had turned themselves in.

The officials also claimed that part of the compound was already under their control. Sources at the Preventive Security Service denied the report, but confirmed that heavy exchanges of fire were taking place in the area.

Hamas sources said that after taking over the Preventive Security Service building, they would move to Muntada and Ansar compounds, where Abbas' office and the rest of the PA's security headquarters are located, and would also take over the Palestinian television building.

Meanwhile, Fatah has begun broadcasting security instructions to the Palestinian security officers on television, calling on them not to surrender to Hamas. The television warned of a military coup and cautioned the Palestinians not to be lured in by the propaganda and the psychological war led by Hamas.

Abbas' advisor, Nabli Amro, held a press conference Thursday morning and said that "the Hamas movement presented a series of demands for a ceasefire, which are in fact a political translation of what they are carrying out in Gaza – an attempt to achieve goals through violence, and this is unacceptable."

According to Amro, Abbas will convene the PLO and Fatah institutions and make a series of firm decisions, with all options on the agenda. Fatah has been threatening to quit the government since Tuesday, after suspending its ministers' activity in it.

Amro said that Abbas had recently discussed the issue with many officials, including Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in a bid to reach a ceasefire.

"Abbas warned them of the consequences of the internal war, but there was no response, and it appears that after each talk there was an escalation on the part of Hamas," he added.

Amro said that Hamas was acting like Israel. "They are declaring many areas in the Strip, where fighters and innocent people live, closed military zoned. This is unacceptable. Hamas is drunk with power."

Wave of arrests in West Bank

The Palestinians Authority's security forces, accompanied by Fatah members, began arresting senior Hamas members in the West Bank on Wednesday night.

The operation was launched in Ramallah, and the list of detainees contained 1,500 names of senior Hamas members and activists.

Sources in the Gaza Strip said that all Hamas members which were not held by Israel were expected to be arrested in the operation, which would only be halted if Hamas declared that it would accept a ceasefire in the coming hours.

The list of detainees contained Hamas mayors, university and charity activists, and people involved in the organization's religious activity.

This was the first wave of detentions launched by the PA against Hamas members since the end of the 1990s. PA officials said the operation reminded them of the wave of detentions carried out after Hamas' series of terror attacks in Israel in 1996, when the PA's prisons were filled with hundreds of senior Hamas members.

'Int'l force will be treated like occupation forces'

Aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the decision on the operation was made after Hamas did not hide its plan "to destroy any remnant of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip," and after his efforts to convince Hamas members to reach a ceasefire failed.

Abbas is also expected to declare the disbandment of the Palestinian government and the Palestinian Legislative Council in the coming hours, and declare a state of emergency in the PA and different steps he plans to take against Hamas.

His associates said that he had briefed a number of international Arab officials on the details of his plan and that he had been in touch with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal in the past few days.

On Wednesday, Abbas spoke to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, but all his efforts for a ceasefire failed, and therefore he decided to take a number of harsh retaliation acts against Hamas.

Meanwhile, Hamas is preparing for the possibility of multinational forces arriving in the Strip. The idea, which was raised by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday night with the support of Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was rejected out of hand by Hamas.

"We will treat these forces as occupation forces," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

Abbas orders presidential guard to attack Hamas (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3412691,00.html)

Fatah on verge of collapse as "Hamastan" emerges in Gaza
By Israel Insider staff  June 14, 2007
 

Hamas gunmen completed the conquest of the main building of the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, long associated with Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, as additional bastions of Fatah support fell to the Islamist forces. Hamas seized the vehicles and weapons in the compound, wrapping up a broad sweep which has almost completely vanquished the forces of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The gunmen who entered the compound held a prayer there and waved a flag on the building's rooftop. At least 10 people were killed in the takeover. Hamas' television station is now broadcasting from within the compound, where Hamas members had been interrogated. Hamas announced that it was changing the name of the neighborhood to "Tel al-Islam."

Hamas officials announced that the building would become a madrasa for religioous studies, and that the Sariya -- the PA's government office building -- would turn into a massive religious center.

The Hamas TV broadcast displayed weapons, jeeps, mortar shells and bulletproof vests seized in the compound, YnetNews reported, much of which was transferred to Fatah by Israel and the Americans in recent months through the border with Egypt, confirming Israeli fears that the war materiel would fall into the hands of the jihadists. That fall came far faster than even the most pessimistic observers had predicted.

Hamas terrorists also fired mortar shells at the PA Intelligence Service and the Presidential Guard, as well as Abbas's main compound. Hamas and Fatah men took control of rooftops throughout the city Wednesday and fired at each other.

Moean Hammad, 34, said life had become a nightmare at his high-rise building near the Preventive Security headquarters/ "We spent our night in the hallway outside the apartment because the building came under cross-fire," Hammad said. "We haven't had electricity for two days, and all we can hear is shooting and powerful, earth-shaking explosions.

"The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a real-life horror movie," he said.

The city's mosques broadcast via loudspeaker calls by Hamas for Fatah to surrender and hand in their weapons.

Fatah headquarters in Khan Younis was blown up by a one-ton bomb planted beneath it in a tunnel, a technique previously used against the IDF. Terrified Fatah men fled the building, handed over their arms and even their clothes to Hamas men outside. Another large bomb was uncovered by Fatah forces underneath the road used by Abbas when in Gaza. Currently, and probably for the near future at least, he is keeping his distance.

Also in Rafah, Hamas blew up Fatah headquarters and declared its conquest of the town. Egyptian reports said that forty PA officers broke through the Gaza-Egypt border fence and fled for their lives to Sinai. The Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committee said that it had seized control of the border to prevent weapons from being brought into Gaza and mass emigration by local Gazans as well as Fatah officials and fighters.

Fatah even blew up several of its own bases in central Gaza to prevent them and their contents from falling into Hamas?s hands.

Hundreds of Fatah gunmen were seen surrendering to Hamas in Gaza, caving into to a Hamas ultimatum to surrender by Friday or die. Hundreds of members of the mercenary local Bakr clan fighting for Fatah also surrendered. Clan members, following their surrender, were taken to a local mosque. Hamas blew up the homes of clan members. Women of the clan were shot dead after they tried to transport a sick girl to the hospital, the PA reported.

Nearly 80 people have been killed in the most recent wave of Fatah-Hamas clashes.

What has emerged is, in effect, a two-state solution, though not the one envisioned by the Quartet and the Israeli government. Hamas will rule Gaza and attempt to turn it into an Islamic state, while Abbas will try to cling to power in the West Bank and turn it into a "Fatahland."

"This is the first step in the establishment of the Islamic state," a Hamas member told Ynet from inside the Preventive Security Service building. "This is Islam's victory, Allah's victory, and we pray to Allah for bringing us this victory."

Hospitals in Gaza were operating without water, electricity and blood. Patients were being killed at close range by rival factions as they arrived to the hospital.

Shaher Hatoum, a nurse at Al Quds Hospital, said that the wounded were propped up on ward floors. Fighters ignored the hospital's pleas to hold fire long enough to repair the generator and water pipes, Hatoum said. Hundreds of bullets kept flying through the windows. "We are waiting here for our end," Hatoum said.

Hamas' media outlets announced that among the next targets after the Prevent Security compound would be Fatah and the PA's official radio and telelvision stations. The station announced the names of senior Fatah officials and said that they had been marked for execution. "We will reach you," Hamas members told the Fatah leaders.

Hamas gunmen collected weapons and ammunitions from Fatah members' homes -- in some cases shooting men point blank in front of their families.

In general, Fatah offered weak resistance, with its forces often surrendering without a fight and handing over their weapons.

Aides to Abbas said Thursday that he had ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back against Hamas fighters. But the efficacy of the force was in doubt and most observers considered the attempt to stop Hamas to be a lost cause. On Thursday afternoon, Abbas met with the PLO's Executive Committee, which recommended that he disband the unity government and declare a state of emergency in Gaza. Fatah broadcast security oders to Palestinian security officers via television, calling on them not to surrender to Hamas. But many preferred to surrender rather than risk instant death at the hands of the Hamas killing squads.

Fatah is trying to assert its dwindling authority in the West Bank, launching a wave of more than 30 arrests there. On Wednesday night, and has so far arrested 30 Hamas members. The Palestinian president is also considering declaring the Gaza Strip a "rebelling district" and continues to say that the only legal and official rule in the Palestinian Authority resided in Ramallah.

Hamas was not impressed by the threats and declarations, but it will force the Islamic militants to decide whether it wants to run the Strip on its own, with all the political and economic consequences.

At least 25 Palestinians were killed and 80 were wounded as Hamas fighters overran two of Fatah's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and shot them to death gangland-style in the street in front of their families.

cont'd next post

The headquarters of the General Security Service, commanded by Ramallah-based General Tawfik Tirawi, fell to Hamas gunmen. Hamas said documents it found there prove that the Fatah-affiliated security apparatus has close ties with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Hamas said it would show the documents on television in the coming hours.

Elsewhere, the capture of the Preventive Security headquarters was a major step forward in Hamas's attempts to complete its takeover of all of Gaza. Hamas followed up that victory by demanding Fatah surrender another key security installation.


Hamas victory could be opportunity for Israel

Where is Fatah's strongman Dahlan?

Egypt's difficult task in Gaza
Hamas also overran the southern city of Rafah, the second of Gaza's four main towns to fall into the Islamic group's hands.

Later Thursday, an explosion rocked Gaza City, and smoke was seen rising from a security post. Fatah security officials said forces positioned at the post had redeployed elsewhere and blown it up as they left, rather than let Hamas take it over.

Earlier, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, for the first time in five days of fierce fighting, ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back. But his forces were crumbling fast under the onslaught by the better-armed and better-disciplined Islamic fighters.

A Hamas military victory in Gaza would split Palestinian territory into two, with the Islamic extremists controlling the coastal strip and Fatah ruling the West Bank. Israel was watching the carnage closely, concerned the clashes might spawn attacks on the southern border.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a weekly meeting of security officials that Israel would not allow the violence to spread into attacks on southern Israel, meeting participants said.

The battle for the Preventive Security complex brought the day's death toll to 25 by mid-afternoon, hospital and security officials said. About 90 people, most of them gunmen but including children and other civilians, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war.

Fatah said Hamas shot to death seven of its fighters outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range.

A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed before their wives and children.

"They are executing them one by one," Amjad said in a telephone interview, declining to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

As Hamas took this major battle spoil, the Palestine Liberation Organization's top body recommended that Abbas declare a state of emergency and dismantle Fatah's governing coalition with Hamas. Abbas said he would review the recommendations and make a decision within hours, said an aide, Nabil Amr.

After the rout at the Preventive Security complex, some of the Hamas fighters kneeled down outside, touching their foreheads to the ground in prayer. Others led Fatah gunmen out of the building, some shirtless or in their underwear, holding their arms in the air. Several of the Fatah men flinched as the crack of gunfire split the air.

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a Hamas spokesman, told Hamas radio. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

Sami Abu Zuhri, another Hamas spokesman, heralded what he called "Gaza's second liberation," after the 2005 disengagement.

Gunmen and civilians were looting the compound, hauling out computers, documents, office equipment, furniture and TVs.

Hamas had been tightening its ring around the Preventive Security complex for three days, stepping up its assault late Wednesday, with a barrage of bullets, grenades, mortar rounds and land mines that continued until the compound fell. Electricity and telephone lines were cut, and roads leading to the complex were blocked. Hamas claimed it confiscated two cars filled with arms sent as reinforcements.

The Islamic group was also training its guns Thursday at three other key command centers in Gaza City.

In a broadcast on Hamas radio, the Islamic fighters demanded that Fatah surrender the National Security compound by mid-afternoon. Light clashes were taking place there when the ultimatum was delivered.

Rocket-propelled grenades were also being fired toward Abbas's Gaza compound, provoking return fire from his presidential guard. For the first time since the fighting began, Abbas ordered his guard to go on the offensive against Hamas at the compound, and not simply maintain a defensive posture, an aide said.

The intelligence service compound was under siege as well, with Hamas firing dozens of rocket-propelled grenades in its direction.

In Gaza's south, Hamas trounced Fatah in Rafah, taking over the Preventive Security building in that town. It was the second main Gaza city to fall to the Islamists, who captured nearby Khan Younis on Wednesday.

"I can see the Preventive Security building in front of me. Hamas has raised its green flags over it," a civilian resident, who identified himself only as Raed, said by telephone. "There are men carrying away equipment from inside. ... (The Fatah-allied) National Security men ran away."

Hospitals were operating without water, electricity and blood. Even holed up inside their homes, Gazans weren't able to escape fighting that turned apartment buildings into battlefields.

Moean Hammad, 34, said life had become a nightmare at his high-rise building near the Preventive Security headquarters, where Fatah forces on the rooftop were battling Hamas fighters.

"We spent our night in the hallway outside the apartment because the building came under cross-fire," Hammad said. "We haven't had electricity for two days, and all we can hear is shooting and powerful, earth-shaking explosions.

"The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a real-life horror movie," he said.

Shaher Hatoum, a nurse at nearby Al Quds Hospital, said the facility had no electricity, water or blood, and that wounded were propped up on ward floors. Hundreds of bullets flew through windows, and fighters ignored the hospital's appeals to hold fire just long enough to have the generator and water pipes fixed, Hatoum said.

"We are waiting here for our end," Hatoum said.

Fatah on verge of collapse as "Hamastan" emerges in Gaza (http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Security/11517.htm)

Arab League to hold Mideast crisis talks
(AFP)

14 June 2007


CAIRO - Arab foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting in Cairo on Friday to discuss the violence in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, a league official told AFP.

“We will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday to examine the situation in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon,” Hisham Yussef, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa’s chief of staff told AFP late Wednesday.

Yussef said the meeting — initially scheduled for Saturday — had been brought forward because of the severity of the situation.

Arab League to hold Mideast crisis talks (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/June/middleeast_June255.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

This situation has gone from bad to a complete catastrophe. Not only are the lives of Fatah and Israel at stake but so are many American lives now.


Terrorists claim CIA files seized
Documents said to provide details of U.S. intel networks in Mideast

Terrorist groups, including Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees, have seized large quantities of CIA security files stored at major compounds of militias associated with the U.S.-backed Fatah organization of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, terror leaders told WND today.

The terror leaders claimed the files contain, among other information, details of CIA networks in the Middle East.

"The CIA files we seized, which include documents, CDs, taped conversations and videos, are more important than all the American weapons we obtained the last two days as we took over the traitor Fatah's positions," said Muhammad Abdel-El, spokesman for the Hamas-allied Popular Resistance Committees terror group.

The Committees has been accused of carrying out anti-U.S. attacks, including a 2003 bombing of an American convoy in Gaza that killed three U.S. contractors.

Hamas has the past few days taken near-complete control of the Gaza Strip, advancing on the vast majority of Fatah security buildings and positions in the northern, southern and central sections of the territory.

Hamas gunmen today captured the second of four major Fatah command centers in central Gaza City, planting the group's green flag on the roof of the intelligence services building. Also today, Hamas seized the Palestinian Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza, a major Fatah compound, reportedly executing witnesses and several defeated Fatah members.

According to Hamas sources, the terror group will soon advance on Gaza City's Ansar Compound, one of the most important Fatah security establishments and the site at which American weapons have been delivered to Fatah the past few years. Security sources say Ansar contains large quantities of weaponry the U.S. provided to Fatah.

Hamas and Popular Resistance Committees leaders told WND upon taking over Gaza City's Fatah compounds, particularly the Preventative Security Services building and intelligence compound, they seized large quantities of what they said were CIA files concerning the Middle East.

They said prior to Hamas' advances, Fatah officials attempted to destroy the CIA files but only succeeded in eliminating some.

U.S. security coordinators the past few years maintained a presence at Fatah's Gaza headquarters. The U.S. regularly trains and arms Fatah militias.

Abu Abdullah, a member of Hamas' so-called military wing, said, "Now our job is to study these files, which are already showing that they are crucial for our fight against the Zionists and anyone who collaborates with them, including the Americans."

Abdullah said the CIA documents they browsed so far contain "information about the collaboration between Fatah and the Israeli and American security organizations; CIA methods on how to prevent attacks, chase and follow after cells of Hamas and the Committees; plans about Fatah assassinations of members of Hamas and other organizations; and American studies on the security situation in Gaza."

Abdullah claimed the documents also detailed CIA networks in other Arab countries and "how to help beat Islamic allies of Hamas in other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan."

"We will use these documents and make portions public to prove the collaboration between America and traitor Arab countries," Abdullah said.

Committees Spokesman Abdel El told WND he was sitting in a Gaza mosque today pouring through some of the files on the Committees when he found his name mentioned in the documents four times.

"I am amazed by the material and the context of the documents," he said.

Hamas seized U.S. weapons

The U.S. in the past year has given large quantities of weapons to bolster Fatah in clashes against Hamas. Hamas officials repeatedly told WND they would seize any American weaponry provided to Fatah in Gaza.

Hamas' Al Aqsa Television yesterday and today broadcast footage of Hamas gunmen brandishing American assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers and ammunition the U.S. reportedly provided to Fatah over the past few months. Hamas fighters also showed what they said were 10 American-provided armored personnel carriers the terror group said it seized from Fatah security compounds it took over Tuesday.

WND broke the story Tuesday that Hamas took control of large caches of U.S. weapons, including armored personnel carriers provided to Abbas' Fatah party.

Hamas Abu Abdullah commented, "We informed you many times we would obtain all American arms brought to Gaza in the conspiracy against our government."

Abu Abdullah said once Hamas takes over Gaza City's Ansar Compound his group would be "swimming" in American weaponry.

The last confirmed U.S. weapons transfer to Force 17 took place in May 2006 and consisted of 3,000 assault rifles, but WND reported multiple other transfers later were delivered to Fatah, including a cache of 7,000 rifles in January and about 8,000 assault rifles in February.

Many members of Force 17 are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, Fatah's declared "military wing" which took responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years. The Jewish state regularly arrests Force 17 members accused of carrying out shooting attacks against Israelis.

WND reported last week PA President Abbas petitioned Israel to allow more weapons and munitions – including assault rifles provided by the U.S. – to reach his fighters in the Gaza Strip to bolster them against Hamas, according to diplomatic sources.

'Gaza has fallen'

Earlier yesterday, Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed on the need to bring an end to the fighting between their respective parties, but a truce wasn't reached. Officials on both sides don't expect any momentum in dialogue between Hamas and Fatah until Hamas has taken over the entire Gaza Strip, which security sources say could happen within 24 hours.

A senior Palestinian Authority official from the Fatah party told WND today, "Gaza has fallen. It's now Hamas land. We (Fatah) have lost."

The official said Hamas seeks to create an "Islamic caliphate" in Gaza and that it is expected to put former Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar in control of the terror group's reign in Gaza.

Israeli security officials said they were "gravely concerned" about Iran's influence over the territory Hamas now controls.