Hamas tightens reins in Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas took quick action Tuesday to shore up its control of the Gaza Strip, arresting hundreds of Fatah supporters and promising “additional steps” against its bitter rival one day after a huge Fatah rally ended in mayhem and violence.
Hamas forces opened fire Monday as an estimated 250,000 Palestinians were beginning to leave a rally marking the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. Seven civilians were killed and 85 people wounded in the worst outbreak of violence between the two Palestinian factions since Hamas overran Gaza in June, expelling pro-Fatah forces.
The carnage indicated Hamas is prepared to use force to maintain its control of Gaza, and conversely, that large segments of the population oppose such measures.
Fatah officials said Hamas forces arrested 450 people in the aftermath of the rally. Hamas said those arrested had incited violence at the rally.
Gaza’s Hamas government met Tuesday to discuss the violence, said Taher Nunu, a Hamas spokesman. “The government will reconsider its policy toward Fatah and will take additional steps to protect the political and national and media movements in the streets of Gaza,” he said.
He declined to elaborate, saying the government was still deciding what steps to take. But the threat appeared to signal even tougher steps ahead.
In an unusually harsh statement, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it “strongly condemns the excessive use of force” by Hamas police at the rally. The group’s investigation showed that Hamas gunmen provoked the Fatah backers by driving a jeep into the crowd.
“The demonstrators threw rocks at the police, who responded by indiscriminate gunfire and raiding the rally grounds,” opening fire and killing and wounding dozens, the group said.
The huge numbers at the rally were interpreted as a vote of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat’s successor, as he prepares for a crucial Mideast conference this month in Annapolis, Md.
Palestinian negotiators charged Tuesday that Israel is sabotaging the conference by making new demands. The latest is that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians could not do that. Such a declaration would imply conceding the “right of return” of 4 million Palestinians - refugees and their descendants from the war that followed Israel’s creation in 1948.
Israel insists that the refugees must be repatriated in the Palestinian state to be set up, not in Israel.
While a deal might eventually be worked out, Palestinians were not prepared to give up their traditional demand even before negotiations begin.