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Hamas appears close to taking over entire Gaza Strip
Hamas fighters launched a fierce offensive on Gaza City on Wednesday, attacking the main security bases and the Palestinian Authority chairman's compound with mortars and rockets and sending some of the rival Fatah forces fleeing in disarray as the Islamic group appeared close to taking over the entire Gaza Strip. With the fighting raging on rooftops and streets in nearly all corners of Gaza, residents huddled in fear in their homes, hoping to keep their families safe from stray bullets and shrapnel. Fayez Abu Taha, 45, a businessman in the southern town of 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." PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called the fighting "madness" and pleaded with Hamas's exiled leader for a halt to the violence. Abbas's 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. Abbas and PA 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's office. The call was broadcast on Palestinian TV. The two have made numerous calls for an end to the fighting in the past, to no avail. No one was listening to the elected leaders as the focus of power passed to street militias. Hamas gunmen neutralized recognized security forces linked to Fatah in frontal assaults on their strong points, ruling the streets and taking control of large parts Gaza in the process. 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. "What I can I say? This is a fall, a collapse," said Col. Nasser Khaldi, a senior police official in Rafah. In Washington, US 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. At least 15 people were killed in fighting Wednesday, bringing the total in the four-day campaign to nearly 60. Among those killed Wednesday was a man shot when Hamas gunmen fired at a peaceful protest against the violence, witnesses said. In one dramatic battle, 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 in the air, 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. Hamas, already in control of much of northern Gaza, seized the southern town of Khan Younis on Wednesday and began a coordinated assault on the town of Rafah, security officials said. On Wednesday afternoon, they launched attacks on 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. Posted by: Fred 2007-06-14 |
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