Fear grips strife-torn Gaza ahead of Abbas speech
Source: Reuters
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Few Palestinians thought the violence in Gaza could get worse. Then militants shot dead three young sons of an intelligence official loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas outside the boys' school early this week. Two days later, gunmen dragged a judge from the rival Hamas movement out of a taxi and shot him dead. Many Palestinians fear events are spiralling out of control. Security forces have turned their guns on each other and Abbas, in a speech on Saturday, may call for fresh elections, a move that would dramatically sharpen tensions with the governing Hamas Islamists. Israel's decision to prevent Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas from entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt with $35 million in cash led to some of the fiercest fighting between the group and forces loyal to Abbas. One of Haniyeh's bodyguards was killed in what Hamas called an assassination attempt by Abbas's U.S.-backed presidential guard. Fatah said the accusation was unfounded and could further stoke tensions. "The situation is heading towards complete collapse," said Khalil Abu Shammala of the Ad-Dameer Association for Human Rights in the Gaza Strip. "I feel as if death is touring every street, every neighbourhood. Our whole community is threatened." Abbas is expected to outline his options following months of failed talks with Hamas to form a unity government. Palestinians had hoped a unity cabinet would help lift Western sanctions imposed on the government because of Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. Some Abbas aides say he might announce he has no choice but to call a referendum on elections, although he may avoid setting dates and leave the door open to fresh talks. Hamas would regard a call for fresh parliamentary elections as an attempt to topple its 9-month-old government, which took office after trouncing Abbas's long dominant Fatah faction. NO SECURITY Security forces loyal to Hamas and Fatah have flooded the streets of Gaza following this week's brutal killings, ostensibly to restore calm. The last thing Gazans feel is secure, even though there are more than 50,000 police for a strip of 1.4 million people. "They are there to flex their muscles against one another," said former construction worker Mohammad Abu al-Hassan, 60, as he glanced at members of a Hamas police force and security personnel loyal to Abbas barely metres (yards) from each other. Gunfights between the two forces have killed one and wounded nearly 30 people this week. Since the start of the year, internal factional and clan violence has killed more than 200 Gazans, according to human rights groups and government officials. Meanwhile, the crippling Western aid embargo has deepened poverty while crime has skyrocketed. Israel's closure of Rafah on Thursday and Friday signalled the start of a clampdown on funds raised by Haniyeh during a tour of the Middle East. The emergence of a new radical Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for several bomb attacks against Internet cafes and video-cassette stores has also unsettled many Gazans. Calling itself the Rightful Swords of Islam, the group says it carried out attacks because shop owners had violated the religious and moral values of Islam. Kidnappers now not only target foreign aid workers and journalists, but increasingly abduct ordinary Gazans to settle clan, factional and business disputes. "We are not safe," said Samira Mohammad, a 35-year-old teacher and mother of two. "We feel as if we are imprisoned in our homes because it is too dangerous to wander around." Abbas is likely to talk about the deteriorating security in his speech on Saturday. That is cold comfort to many Gazans. "We can no longer say some crimes are strange to our traditions. Crime has become a culture," said Abu Shammala. "We are just waiting for the worse to come."
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