Fatah threatens to arrest 200 Hamas men in West Bank

[notfullofit]

Abbas' faction says wave of arrests retaliation for rounding up of dozens of Fatah men in Gaza following Friday's explosion outside Gaza City

Ali Waked Published: 07.28.08, 00:49 / Israel News

Despite attempts to preserve the relative calm, the internal strife between Hamas and Fatah is threatening to spread from Gaza to the West Bank, as Palestinian security forces are planning to round up Hamas gunmen and supporters starting Sunday night.

Fatah is responding to the arrest of at least 200 of its members by Hamas security personnel in Gaza over the past two days.

The recent conflict broke out Friday evening, when five Hamas men and a girl were killed in an explosion outside a cafeteria on the beach in Gaza City. Hamas blamed Fatah for the blast, while President Mahmoud Abbas' faction denied any responsibility.

A Palestinian security officer told Ynet that since Saturday night some 40 Hamas men were detained, mainly in Tulkarem.

"The reason for the arrests is the arrests Hamas is conducting in Gaza," he said, and estimated that a total of 200 Islamist group figures will be detained by the end of the current wave of arrests.

Hamas security forces have set up roadblocks throughout the Strip in search of arms, explosives and suspects. Among those detained are members of The Army of Islam, an organization linked to al-Qaeda. Hamas suspects the group was involved in Friday's bombing.

However, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said evidence gathered at the scene of the explosion indicated Fatah's involvement in the attack.
"The murders in Gaza prove once more that Fatah is not interested in true dialogue with Hamas but is instead trying to sow anarchy and destruction,"

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[notfullofit]

1. Update....'total lack of trust between Hamas and Fatah.'

Gaza turmoil, an excuse to bring in Arab armies?

snip..

After the incidents Hamas rushed to accuse Fatah, calling them the "defeated who fled Gaza." De facto Palestinian police affiliated to Hamas and the Executive Force launched a wide-scale campaign of arrests of Fatah affiliates and ransacked several homes of the movement's leaders. Some of the arrestees were former officers in the PA's security forces before Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, while others are still leaders in the PLO's different bodies. On Sunday Fatah said that the number of its men who had been arrested was in the hundreds.

Fatah has denied Hamas' accusations and says that the explosion on Friday was the result of internecine Hamas fighting. At the same time, however, PA security forces have arrested 36 Hamas members in the last two days.

It seems that a lot of fire is concealed under the ashes of Gaza's sands. Hearts seem to be full of spitefulness which is contradictory to the moderate political speeches made recently made by politicians from both sides.

One might see in the current situation in Gaza, an excuse to bring in – as has been suggested by Palestinians before – Arab armies, who could open the borders and force our leaders to sit for dialogue.

***Nasser Lahham is the Chief Editor for the Ma'an News Agency

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