WEST BANK: Fatah militants burn Hamas offices and detain its activists in a show of strength in the West Bank

Record ID: 561425

  • Title: WEST BANK: Fatah militants burn Hamas offices and detain its activists in a show of strength in the West Bank
  • Date: 16th June 2007
  • Summary: (W3) DEHEISHA CAMP, NEAR BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (JUNE 15, 2007) (REUTERS) DOZENS OF FATAH SUPPORTERS MARCH IN RALLY AFTER FRIDAY PRAYERS FATAH SUPPORTERS MARCHING, CHANTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LOCAL FATAH ACTIVIST (NAME UNKNOWN) SAYING: "We in Fatah announce that the Islamic resistance party Hamas in Deheisha and in Bethlehem district is restricted and forbidden from practicing any political activity on the ground." VARIOUS OF STREET RALLY
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Y735QD2X6EMEKSTPOZJNGG3W
  • Story Text: Fatah militants and security forces held reprisal raids and rallies on Friday (June 15) in the West Bank against the Hamas Islamist group who took over the coastal strip of Gaza the day before.
    The territories are only about 45 km (30 miles) apart and in the West Bank, Fatah still holds sway.
    Masked and armed militants of Fatah, from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group, broke into a Hamas office in Nablus and burnt down the building.
    In the northern West Bank town of Jenin, security forces affiliated with the secular Fatah movement raided the house of a Hamas official, a judge in an Islamic legislative court in the Jenin district, and took him away in an apparent arrest. Four other Hamas activists were reported to have been arrested by the security forces as well.
    In the main West Bank city of Ramallah, meanwhile, masked gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah-dominated security forces patrolled the streets outside the city's main mosque, where attendance at Friday's prayers was markedly lower than normal, witnesses said.
    Masked security men also rallied briefly in central Manara square in a show of force, climbing on to jeeps which sped off with wailing sirens and squealing tyres.
    In the southern West Bank Deheisha refugee camp, near the town of Bethlehem, supporters of Fatah took to the streets in support of the secular movement. Dozens marched through the camp's streets and chanted anti-Hamas slogans.
    One Fatah activist called for a ban on any political activity by Hamas in the area.
    "The Islamic resistance party Hamas in Deheisha and in Bethlehem district is restricted and forbidden from practicing any political activity on the ground."
    Hamas has cast its Gaza takeover as a preemptive move against Fatah elements opposed to its political ascendancy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired the Hamas-led government and named his former finance minister in the unity government, Salam Fayyad, to replace Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in an emergency cabinet.
    The fact that Gaza fell with apparently little or no resistance from Fatah fighters who had received Western-sponsored training and arms raised questions about Abbas's ability to hold out against further Hamas pressure. os/jrc
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