Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas on Saturday, with a US diplomat saying he expects a crippling 15-month-old foreign aid embargo to be lifted once he appoints an emergency government without Hamas.
A senior Hamas official in Gaza City said his men had captured more than 50,000 rifles and pistols during raids on the headquarters of the Fatah-controlled security forces. Hamas also seized dozens of vehicles and "important" military equipment, according to the official. "You can say that Hamas is much stronger than it was last week," he said. "We have also captured tons of ammunition and thousands of mortars and rocket-propelled grenades." The Hamas-Fatah fighting in the Gaza Strip ended late Thursday after Hamas completed its takeover of all the important PA institutions there, including Abbas's local headquarters and the offices of all the PA security forces. Scores of Fatah security commanders and political leaders fled to the West Bank and Egypt as Hamas announced that it had taken full control of the Strip.
Fatah's swift collapse drew sharp criticism from some of the faction's representatives. Hatem Abdel Kader, a top Fatah operative in the West Bank, called for a commission of inquiry to determine who was responsible. Another senior Fatah official in the West Bank launched a scathing attack on Abbas and the Fatah leadership, holding them responsible for the Hamas victory. "We want to know why we lost the battle in the Gaza Strip," he said. "Those responsible for the defeat must pay the price."
| "Ahmed! Find out who was responsible and shoot him!" "Duh, okay, boss!" |
The official said the new ministers would be sworn in before Abbas in a ceremony in Ramallah's Mukata "presidential" compound. "The majority of the ministers will be from the West Bank," he added. "Haniyeh's government is not legitimate because it has been dissolved by the president."
Abbas rejected an offer by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to arrange a meeting between him and Mashaal in Cairo on the crisis, another official told the Post. "President Abbas believes that there is nothing to talk about with Mashaal after the military coup that Hamas staged in the Gaza Strip," the official said. "We will not talk to these Hamas murderers." Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said the PA leader would not engage in a dialogue with "killers."
Arab League foreign ministers who met in Cairo over the weekend expressed support for Abbas's authority and called for a commission of inquiry into the latest events in the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded by welcoming the Arab League's call for a dialogue with Fatah. The Islamist movement also expressed readiness to cooperate with an Arab League commission of inquiry. In response to Abbas's decision to fire him, a defiant Haniyeh said: "Abbas and his advisers did not consider the consequences [of the decision] and its effects on the situation on the ground. They made a hasty decision... We will continue our relations with all factions and continue with a national unity government."