Israel Matzav

Confusion in Hamastan

Ten senior Fatah 'officials' were arrested this morning in Hamastan. They included the commander of Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen's Presidential Guard, Mohammed el-Presi, his deputy and PA National Security Organization Commander Jamal el-Qaid. A senior Fatah spokesman, a lawmaker and six other officials were also arrested. Israel Radio reported on its 11:00 AM newscast that all the 'detainees' would be tried for 'collaborating with America' but now there are reports that they will be interrogated and released and that three of them have in fact been released.

But as you all know already, some Fatah officials were executed. One man was thrown to his death from a rooftop by the family of a Hamas man he had killed. Honor and revenge reign supreme in Hamastan.

But while scoffing at Abu Mazen's firing 'moderate' 'Palestinian' Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leadership in Syria and even some of them in Hamastan are singing a different tune:

Hamas scoffed at Abbas's decision and expressed doubt that he would be able to implement it.

"How can you declare a state of emergency if you don't have a government to enforce it?" asked Hamas legislator Salah Bardaweel. "Only a government can enforce a state of emergency."

Bardaweel pointed out that in any case a new government would have to be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is still dominated by Hamas.

He said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was improving now that Hamas was in full control. "Now we can start implementing our security plan for imposing law and order," he said. "We even have no problem coordinating it with Fatah."

According to Israel Radio, Hamas's spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, rejected Abbas's announcement shortly afterward, claiming that according to Palestinian law, Abbas could not set up an emergency government.

The Syrian-based deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said Thursday night there would be no change in Gaza's status, no Islamic rule declared in Gaza and ruled out Hamas separating Gaza from the West Bank.

He said Abbas's decision to fire his Hamas prime minister would complicate matters and that Haniyeh would likely continue on the job.

"Gaza will remain Gaza and there will be no changes in its future and will continue to be linked to the West Bank whether he (Abbas) removed the government or not."

He rejected talk of declaring an Islamic state in Gaza. "This talk has no basis... We are committed to the rules and basic laws organizing the Palestinian Authority," he said.

And in Judea and Samaria, where Fatah is the dominant party, we are starting to see the reverse of what happened in Gaza:

In the meantime, Palestinian Authority security forces, accompanied by Fatah members, have continued the wave of arrests of Hamas members in the West Bank.

According to estimates, hundreds of Hamas members have already been detained, in an operation launched in Ramallah on Wednesday, which is expected to go on for a few days, as the list of potential detainees contains some 1,500 names of Hamas activists.

In Ramallah, a PA security force on Thursday night raided a wedding of a family affiliated with Hamas and arrested about 20 guests.

But the worst news of all is that because of the violence, defenseless 'defense minister' Amir Comrade Peretz is going to have to skip the Salon (weapons show) in Paris this week. Awww.....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:10 PM