WEST BANK/GAZA: Calls for calm as Palestinians observe a general strike a day after fighting

Record ID: 339177

  • Title: WEST BANK/GAZA: Calls for calm as Palestinians observe a general strike a day after fighting
  • Date: 2nd October 2006
  • Summary: (W3) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 02, 2006) (REUTERS) MILITANTS MARCHING IN BETHLEHEM ENFORCING GENERAL STRIKE/SHOPS CLOSED SHOPS LOCKED MILITANTS TELLING MERCHANTS TO CLOSE DOWN MASKED MILITANTS THROWING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES ON GROUND IN OPEN-AIR MARKET ARMED MILITANTS CLOSING DOWN OPEN-AIR MARKET IN BETHLEHEM
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAL0YC393M6YESDN2RJPZ4ON7U
  • Story Text: Before dawn on Monday (October 2), paramilitary troops controlled by Abbas took up positions at key intersections across Gaza and Hamas pulled its forces back as part of a deal brokered by Egyptian mediators to stem the internal fighting.
    Tensions were high throughout the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinians observed a general strike a day after clashes claimed the lives of eight people and injured at least 100 in the biggest outbreak in internal fighting in months over unpaid wages and stalled unity talks.
    In the city of Bethlehem, militants supportive of Fatah torched the PLC building in Bethlehem damaging the government parliamentary building and causing sporadic fighting between different militant factions.
    In Bethlehem the stores were closed in observance of the general strike while masked militants took the streets and closed down an open air market, turning over fruit and vegetable stands.
    In the city of Jenin, militants from AlAqsa brigades attacked and damaged the Hamas PLC Jenin bloc office.
    Fatah organised a one-day commercial strike in parts of the West Bank on Monday to protest the flare-up in violence.
    Hamas likewise suspended government work after Fatah supporters attacked government buildings in Ramallah.
    "All these actions must stop and should be over. Calm should be restored to the West Bank just like it was restored in Gaza," Haniyeh told reporters on Monday during a cabinet meeting.
    Palestinian tensions rose after Interior Minister Saeed Seyam ordered his security forces to take to the streets to prevent further violence by striking policemen demanding overdue salaries. Clashes soon erupted throughout the day.
    Gunmen in Gaza and the West Bank, loyal to either Hamas or Abbas's Fatah group, set ablaze offices of the Hamas-led Palestinian government and stormed hospitals and schools affiliated with the groups, as well as homes of seniors leaders.
    Following Abbas's speech, the interior ministry ordered the Hamas-led security force to pull back from positions in Gaza to which they had deployed during the police protest.
    "Also we will turn all the files related to the violations to the state prosecutor in order to investigate and bring the violators to justice. We call on all parties to be patient and to have self restraint in order to not let this opportunity pass us since we know that the only beneficiary (of internal fighting) is the Israeli occupation," Seyam told reporters after the press conference held in Gaza city.
    Seyam had called for calm, saying that internal strife only serves the occupation, he told reporters that those who have violated the law and were behind this chaos and lawlessness will be brought to justice.
    "The forces (Hamas force) are deployed in their (prior) positions, far away from the actions that took place in recent days," Seyam said.
    Abbas has been locked in an increasingly bitter power struggle with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas over stalled efforts to form a unity government after Hamas trounced Fatah in parliamentary elections in January.
    Tension has been fuelled by the government's inability to pay full salaries to its workers, many of them from Fatah, as a result of a Western aid embargo designed to push Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim deals.
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