http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18180
Sources have claimed that there is an atmosphere of diminishing tensions
Date: 17 / 12 / 2006 Time: 20:48

Gaza - Ma'an - Reliable sources have told Ma'an on Sunday evening that there seems to be a positive attitude to cooling down the tensions and trying to resolve the unrest by withdrawing gunmen from the streets.

The sources said that these efforts were initiated by Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP and DFLP), who are liaising between Hamas, Fatah and the Prime Minister's office.

Egyptian sources have also told Ma'an on Sunday evening that Cairo has been endeavoring, during the past few hours, to contain the bloody events in Gaza strip.

Egyptian officials have requested the withdrawal of gunmen from the streets and an end to clashes; in order to pave the way for preventing more deterioration.

The same sources affirmed that a meeting is expected between the Egyptian security delegation and representatives of the Fatah and the Hamas movements.

http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2006%20News%20Archives/December/17%20n/Stage%20Set%20for%20Palestinian%20Civil%20War,%20Abbas%20Dismisses%20Basic%20Law,%20Stages%20a%20Coup%20Against%20Hamas%20Government,%20his%20Decree%20of%20Early%20Elections%20Rejected.htm
( http://www.aljazeerah.info/ )

Stage Set for Palestinian Civil War, Abbas Dismisses Basic Law, Stages a Coup Against Hamas Government, his Decree of Early Elections Rejected

Abbas Early Elections Rejected by Hamas, Jihad, and PFLP-GC

***

President Abbas dismisses Basic Law & stages coup against Hamas government: early elections imminent

PNN, Kristen Ess Saturday, 17 December 2006

President Abbas decided to call for early elections. There is no constitutional backing for what he has done, no provision under Palestinian Basic Law that makes it acceptable. Yes the government was in shambles. That was due to the US-led blockade, as Political analyst and writer Dr. Abdul Sattar Qassem, also a Political Science Professor at Nablus' Al-Najah University, pointed out.

And in planning for the possibility of early elections within the past few days, sources close to the President said they needed three months so that Fateh would be ready: ready to win, that is. And to make the intention even more clear, Yasser Abed Rabbo announced Saturday night that "elections will be held within three months."

The democratic choice of the Palestinian people, Hamas, was disapproved of by the international community, mostly the Americans and Israelis. It was punished relentlessly, as were the people, by a debilitating economic and political blockade.

And then Hamas was demonized to the point that much of their own electorate believed it was their fault, forgetting the US-led blockade and the Israeli occupation.

President Abbas made his much-anticipated announcement via a statement to the press Saturday evening. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the President's decision was "hasty."

The Hamas response in general has been that this is unconstitutional and that this is a coup. Regardless where one falls on the political side of the coin, it is.

Dr. Ahmed Bahar, Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, referred to the President's call for early elections as “illegal and unconstitutional.” The actual Speaker is in Israeli prison where many of the elected officials from the Hamas party were put the moment they stepped into office after winning the elections. Dr. Bahar also asked rhetorically why PLC elections were being called for within the same year they had already been held.

What the political analyst Dr. Qassem pointed out is that there was no wrongdoing within the government itself that would allow for early elections. “The problem is not Hamas,” Dr. Qassem said just days ago. “The problem is the embargo.”

Dr. Bahar sent a legal memorandum to President Abbas today suggesting that, “to hold early elections to dissolve the Legislative Council cannot be done because the PLC cannot be undone. The Legislative Council is the master of its own mandate.” He also pointed out that despite the apparent eagerness of some in the PLO, and most in Fateh, to oust Hamas, “This is contrary to the Basic Law of the Palestine Liberation Organization.”

Dr. Bahar reiterated, “The work of early elections is contrary to the Palestinian Election Law and contrary to Palestinian Basic Law.” Hassan Khuraisheh, said that perhaps Sunday there will be a Legislative Council meeting and the illegality of the President's call will be discussed.

Hamas leader in Jenin, Khaled Al-Haj, criticises Abbas' speech for dishonesty and oversights

Date: 17 / 12 / 2006 Time: 16:56

(MaanImages) Nablus - Ma'an –

A leader of the Hamas movement, Khalid Al Haj, has said that the speech of Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, contained several errors and misrepresentations of the Hamas movement and that he did not speak frankly to his people.

In a statement issued in Nablus, Al Haj said, "We wish that the president spoke in another way, especially in relation to the many inaccuracies stated, including the accusations against the Hamas movement and overlooking the sacrifices which members and leaders of Hamas have made in their long struggle against the Israeli occupation."

The statement from Al Haj reviewed what the Hamas movement had achieved in the past, including the history of its leaders such as Ahmad Yaseen, Abdulaziz Ar Rantisi, Khalid Mash'al and others. The statement also criticized Abbas for describing the Hamas leaders as money smugglers and said that the money was brought in to help the families of Palestinians killed, imprisoned or injured by the Israeli forces and to be paid to civil employees. He continued, "A smuggler is one who takes money and sends it out of the country and the president himself knows who are the corrupt people and who are the thieves."

In his statement Al Haj also said, "The president did not speak about the assassination attempt of the Prime Minister, [Haniyeh] or about the security guard who was killed or the Palestinians injured during the attempt, despite the fact that the attempt occurred when there was no armed men from Hamas at the Rafah crossing. We feel it is strange that a crime in this way was not mentioned, he spoke about the murder of the children, as if Hamas had committed the killings, but he never spoke of the other crimes."

Al Haj spoke about the attack of the Palestinian security by the demonstrators in Ramallah and how they dealt with them, he also spoke about the Hamas movement's relationship with the Arab and Islamic countries, "We have built alliances with many Arab and Islamic countries, these alliances are well-known and clear, we are not interfering in others' affairs and we do not allow others to interfere in our affairs, the Arab and Islamic alliance is strategic, this is our choice and it is not the Israeli or the American choice."

In regard to the call for early elections the statement said, "We in the Hamas movement see this call as a coup against the democratic elections, which the whole world witnessed, although it was democratic we were not given the chance to practice this power. The call, from a legal point of view, is baseless and illegal; it is against basic law, which does not give Abbas the authority to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Committee."

Al Haj said that he wished that the president spoke about the flexibility of the Hamas movement during the talks to form the unity government, the disobedience of the security people to the orders of the minister of the interior, or about forming a committee to investigate the killings of the children and the assassination attempt against the PM and to bring the people involved to justice.

Committee led by Fateh to supervise negotiations with all parties, Arabs, internationals & Israelis

PNN, (Ramallah) Rashid Hilal Saturday, 17 December 2006

Commenting on the meeting of the 10 factions in Damascus and the participation of the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Farouq Al-Qaddoumi, Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudaineh said that Al-Qaddumi does not represent the Fateh movement either “directly or even remotely.”

Abu Rudaineh added in press statements that the “Fateh leadership and its cadres and supporters stand as one behind Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and support has come in all day for his speech and his decision to proceed deliberately with early legislative and presidential elections."

On the other hand, Abu Rudaineh issued the decision to restructure the Supreme Committee of Negotiations which will supervise all negotiations with all parties, including international, Arab and international bodies, including Israel.

He said that President Abbas, in his capacity as Commander in Chief of Fateh, has decided to form a committee to organize the country under the leadership of Fateh in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to begin work immediately.

(So, Fateh is really replacing the Hamas government by a presidential decree. It's a coup).

President Abbas calls for early elections with all roads of trouble leading to Hamas

Palestine News Network Saturday, 17 December 2006

President Abbas called on Saturday to hold presidential and legislative elections early, as soon as possible, he said. But that is with the caveat of keeping the door open for national unity government dialogue. He said he was making the announcement after exhausting all other possible efforts and means to reach consensus with Hamas.

Speaking to the Palestinian people from Ramallah this evening President Abbas said it was necessary to remove the government due to the long suffering that the people have faced in the past months.

Within moments of beginning his speech, the President began speaking of the “recent heinous crime and the ugliness represented by killing three children.” He stressed that such an act has nothing at all to do with Islam or humanity.

The President expressed astonishment that Prime Minister Haniya referred to the incident at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt [when the Prime Minister was returning from his Middle East tour] as “an act of sovereignty by the people over the border crossing.”

The President also blamed the loss of international project funding for the Gaza Strip on the armed resistance and its insistence on launching projectiles. He also said that capturing the Israeli soldier led to 500 people killed and 4,000 injured, the destruction of many homes and serious damage to the infrastructure and economy.

President Abbas also blamed the blockade imposed on the Palestinian people and government on the Hamas government itself, due to Hamas' “refusal to act in harmony with international legitimacy.”

President Abbas stressed that he would “not allow civil war” and emphasized the “sanctity of Palestinian blood.”

Presidential Advisor Amr: President's decision will end the controversy and vicious cycle

PNN, (Ramallah) Rashid Hilal Saturday, 17 December 2006

It seems that the decision of President Mahmoud Abbas to call to hold presidential and legislative elections early satisfied the Fateh leadership and some parties of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and those who view it as a way out of the dangerous impasse faced by the Palestinian people.

The President's Advisor Nabil Amr called the decision “responsible.” He said, “This will end the controversy and turnover the vicious circle.” He suggested that the Hamas movement “take the resolution seriously and cooperate,” as well as “take democracy in the right direction.”

For his part, head of the Fateh bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, Azzam Al-Ahmed said that President Abbas “needed to tell his people the truth, to put an end to a series of lies, fabrications and deceit by the Hamas movement.”

Al Ahmed said, “As long as we decide to return to the basis of the people, we must be ready for this day.”

Meanwhile, PLC member Mohammad Dahlan, who some in Hamas accused of conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, sent in his statements first. “There is no panic about going in to new presidential and legislative elections. At the same time the door is left open to form a national unity government on the basis of getting the siege on the Palestinian people lifted.”

Dahlan also said, “The Hamas movement will be making a mistake if it believes that inflammatory statements will evade the Fateh movement.”

AP Headline: Shots Fired at Palestinian Leader's Home

By IBRAHIM BARZAK Associated Press Writer

Dec 17, 2006, 7:40 AM EST

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) --

Fighting between Hamas and Fateh escalated Sunday, as the foreign minister's convoy and the president's Gaza residence came under attack. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Hamas will boycott an early election called by the president.

Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar escaped unharmed. President Mahmoud Abbas was in the West Bank at the time of the attack on his Gaza residence.

Gunmen also attacked a training base of security forces allied with Abbas on Sunday, killing a member of the elite force. The attacks came one day after Abbas announced he would end nine months of Hamas rule by calling early elections.

The attack on Zahar's convoy unleashed a ferocious gunbattle that raged through the main streets of Gaza City for more than an hour - the worst fighting between the sides since talks on forming a unity government broke down late last month.

Despite the violence, Abbas signaled he is determined to push ahead with early elections. He met with members of the Central Election Commission at his headquarters to discuss a possible date. The head of the panel said it would take at least three months to prepare new presidential and parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, in his first public comments on Abbas' call for new elections, said Hamas would boycott the vote and accused the president of trying to topple the government illegally.

"We confirm that the Palestinian government refuses the invitation to early elections because it is unconstitutional and could cause tension among Palestinians," Haniyeh told supporters at a Gaza refugee camp. He called Abbas' speech calling for elections "inflammatory" and "insulting to the sacrifices and the pain of Palestinians everywhere."

Hamas says that Abbas does not have the legal authority to call early elections. Independent experts are divided.

Abbas' bold gamble, after months of indecision, could easily backfire. It could end up driving the Palestinians toward all-out civil war, strengthen Hamas and further put off peace efforts with Israel.

Abbas has suggested he is still leaving the door open to a national unity government with Hamas, though the angry exchanges between the two camps and growing factional violence made this increasingly unlikely.

During the funeral procession for the guardsman killed during early Sunday fighting , Fateh supporters fired automatic weapons into the air. Nervous Hamas militiamen briefly opened fire.

Medical officials said six people were wounded in exchanges of fire. Fateh and Hamas forces poured into the area in anticipation of further violence.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian teenager was lightly wounded by Hamas gunfire after he threw rocks at a Hamas vehicle, security officials said. Hamas officials said they didn't shoot at the youth.

Despite the dramatic rise in violence, Abbas is determined to push ahead with elections, said a top aide, Saeb Erekat, noting that he met with the Central Election Commission a day after his call for early elections.

"The message of the meeting is that he is serious, that he is saying 'don't doubt my words,'"' Erekat said of Abbas. Erekat said he believed elections would be held sometime around June.

Abbas has said in the past he would not seek another term as president; he was elected to a four-year term in a separate 2005 presidential vote. However, Fateh is expected to ask him to run if early presidential elections are held, said Nabil Sha'ath, a member of the party's Central Committee, which met late Saturday.

A poll released Sunday placed Abbas and Haniyeh in a dead heat in a presidential race. Abbas would win 46 percent, compared with 45 percent for Haniyeh. In parliamentary elections, Fateh would defeat Hamas by a 42-36 margin.

The survey was conducted by the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research among 1,270 Palestinians and had an error margin of 3 percentage points.

"For sure, Fateh is going to name Abu Mazen (Abbas) as the candidate for the presidential election," Sha'ath told reporters Sunday. "When we told him, he only laughed."

The Central Committee has the authority to choose the party's presidential candidate.

Hamas' landslide election in January parliamentary elections split the Palestinian leadership into two camps. One, led by Abbas, seeks peace with Israel; the other, led by Hamas (looking for an end to the occupation and establishment of the Palestinian state before a recognition of Israel). The infighting has often degenerated into violence, and last week, tensions reached their highest peak in years.

Abbas tried to end the power struggle by bringing Hamas into a more moderate coalition with his Fateh Party, but Hamas refused to pay the price he demanded - recognizing Israel and renouncing violence. (i.e. renouncing resistance to the Israeli occupation. This principled Hamas position triggered an Israeli financial embargo on the Palestinian Authority. Israeli satellite governments in the US-EU have participated with the Israel in the embargo).

In his speech Saturday, Abbas said a unity government was still the best option, but that he had despaired of persuading Hamas to enter into a coalition with Fateh.

Early elections could be stripped of legitimacy if boycotted by Hamas and other political factions. Several exiled leaders of Palestinian factions - Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command?) - rejected Abbas' decision, speaking at a joint news conference in Damascus, Syria.

------

AP reporters Karin Laub, Mohammed Daraghmeh, Sarah El Deeb and Dalia Nammari contributed to this report from Ramallah, Diaa Hadid contributed from Gaza City and Albert Aji contributed from Damascus, Syria.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23258/1/
Who has Failed?
Rami Almeghari in Gaza, special to IMEMC - Sunday, 17 December 2006, 09:36

Who has failed to make peace prevail in the holy land of Palestine? The Palestinians, the Israelis, the international 'community' or the apathetic around the world? This is a question that should be asked to all those concerned with Middle East peace.

Throughout the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- a conflict which is the core of the problems in the Middle East, including the Lebanese-Israeli and the Syrian-Israeli conflicts -- both the Palestinians and Israelis have been fighting each other over Palestine.

Just prior to 1948, the Palestinians realized that they were about to get rid of the British colonial hegemony that began in 1917, yet they woke up on the day the Britons left to another occupation, called Israel.

Since that year, Palestinians began all over again to fight for their sovereignty over their ancestral lands; however, despite recent peace agreements with their occupiers, they have not so far attained that sovereignty.

The international community, which clearly concedes the Palestinians’ legitimate right to fight the occupation on the path to freedom and statehood, has so far not been able to involve itself actively to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In spite of a long list of international resolutions, including the pending United Nations Security Council’s resolution concerning the Palestinian question since the year 1948, the international community has never been capable of enforcing any of these United Nations resolutions.

Instead, the international community has recently demanded that the occupied, helpless Palestinians recognize their occupier, even as this occupier still maintains complete control over the occupied land, airspace, sea and even movement from one place to another.

This occupier keeps up daily attacks, invasions, assassinations, settlement activities and construction of a notorious Apartheid Wall over the occupied lands.

Concessions in return for lifting an economic embargo are the heart of the 'peace process' currently at a stalemate in the Middle East: Palestinians (occupied) are demanded by the international community to recognize Israel (occupier), at a time when Palestinians are still occupied by Israel.

Why is it that the Palestinians, who are subjected to one of the harshest military occupations in modern times, are required to give up their rights to their lands and their internationally-recognized right to resist their occupier, in return for food and medicine?

Aren’t food and medicine supposed to be the responsibility of the international community, to provide the basic needs of the occupied populace that has been prevented from providing for their own needs, due to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian nation since that infamous year of 1948 -- which was the actual start of the Palestinian refugee problem?

The international community, represented by the United Nations, has though failed to completely meet demands of more than 3 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.

It has also failed to intervene practically to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the way it has already done in similar conflicts and disputes in many parts of the world, including East Timor/Indonesia, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, etc.

Now, the United Nations, a respected international body, is succumbing to the political interests of certain parties. In this case, they have succumbed to the interests of the occupier (Israel), as Israel demands more concessions from the democratically-elected Palestinian government, in return for international aid money. This aid money, meant for the suffering civilian population, is supposed to continue regardless of the party in 'power' in Palestine, it is supposed to continue even in the presence of no government in Palestine, and is surely supposed to continue whether the ‘radical’ Hamas or the ‘moderate’ Fatah is the elected party.

Many other international bodies and nations have also failed to help both sides of the conflict (Israel and the Palestinians) to realize a moment of genuine peace, due to their inaction and hesitation to promote a concrete peace on the basis of international resolutions and international humanitarian law.

Now the Palestinians are standing alone on a hazardous crossroad, waiting to cross a critical junction in their history, while surrounded by a huge traffic jam of international inaction and indecision. Will they be eventually able to pass through this junction, or will they be hit and possibly die?

If all those concerned with peace in the ‘holy land’ refuse to help the Palestinians to pass through this junction peacefully, then everyone involved will be severely affected, because crushing the Palestinians would mean much more bloodshed on many streets.

On Saturday, December 16, the President of the Palestinian National Authority, stirred by enormous Israeli and international pressure, called for early presidential and legislative elections across the occupied Palestinian territories, in an attempt to rearrange failed Palestinian politics over the past 9 months.

In January, 2006, the occupied Palestinian people opted for Hamas in internationally-recognized democratic legislative elections. Two months later, an internationally-imposed embargo was enforced unless that democratically-elected government recognizes the occupier’s (Israel) right to exist, accepts failed signed peace agreements (that have been violated on a massive scale by the Israeli occupier) and renounces their internationally-accepted right to resist the occupier.

So I ask you again, who has failed???

http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/December/12%20o/Divide%20and%20conquer%20The%20West%20Bank%20and%20the%20Gaza%20Strip%20By%20Daoud%20Kuttab.htm
( http://www.aljazeerah.info/ )
Divide and Conquer: The West Bank and the Gaza Strip
By Daoud Kuttab
PNN, (Ramallah), 11 December 2006

A strange phenomenon has been taking place over the past few years. Israel has been carrying out a systematic plan to try and separate Gaza from the West Bank. Little attention has been given to this effort, which is separating people - and a country - using administrative measures.

This phenomenon began in the late 1980s with the launch of the Intifada, was accelerated in the beginning of the second Intifada in 2000, and has been accelerated even more since the unilateral Israeli partial withdrawal from Gaza, causing a critical human and economic crisis.

Gaza, the West Bank, as well as Israel, were part of historic Palestine. In 1948, with the creation of the State of Israel, they were abruptly divided. The Egyptian authorities were left to administer the Gaza Strip, whose population had been doubled as a result of Al Nakba (the Catastrophe), forcing Palestinian refugees from the southern towns of Palestine to Gaza.

On the other hand, the West Bank was held by Transjordan. In April 1949, Transjordan became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and one year later, in 1950, the West Bank became constitutionally an integral part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. While Egypt did not confer citizenship on the Palestinians of Gaza, West Bankers became Jordanian citizens.

All of this changed after the June 1967 war. In an ironic twist of history, these two sectors of Palestine were reunited, albeit under Israeli occupation. Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank were able to travel freely back and forth even though this meant going through the pre-'67 Israeli territory. And since all were part of a single economic area, the movement of people and goods went on uninterrupted for tens of years.

Palestinians from Nablus or Hebron married and started families with fellow Palestinians from Gaza or Rafah. Students from Khan Yunis or Deir Al Belah attended universities in Ramallah's Bir Zeit or Nablus' An Najah. Businesses in Ramallah or Hebron distributed their dairy products, stone, or toilet paper to the Gaza market, and trucks carrying bamboo furniture or sand made daily trips to Bethlehem or Jenin.

The 1991 Madrid Peace Conference and the 1993 Oslo Accords brought with them both a legal restriction of movement and a reaffirmation of the unity of Palestinian lands. The PLO-Israel Memorandum of Understanding devoted an entire chapter to routine safe passage to facilitate movement of people and goods. Signs were put up dedicating a special road between the northern Gaza Strip and the Tarkumiya Checkpoint, south of Hebron City in the southern West Bank.

But all of this seems like a charade now. Except for a few photo opportunities of a few buses traveling on the Gaza-West Bank route, the safe passage never materialized and the signs have entered the museum of Palestinian-Israeli failures.

Israel has never admitted it, but the plan for separating these two entities is obvious, even though largely underreported. Palestinians from Gaza wishing to travel to the West Bank, and vice versa, are unable to do so as a result of publicly-known, as well as secret administrative, decisions and guidelines.

Technically, of course, one can get the coveted permit to travel back and forth - but such passes were, I imagine, easier to come by in apartheid South Africa. Extreme humanitarian cases are often the only ones in which a limited time permit is allowed.

For a while Palestinians traveled from Gaza to the West Bank by flying from the Egyptian El-Arish airport and then crossing into the West Bank or vice versa, but even using nearby Arab countries is now administratively impossible. Democratically elected members of the Palestinian parliament, as well as many others, have had to use video conferencing in order to communicate with fellow Palestinians. Only President Mahmoud Abbas and a few senior, "acceptable" Palestine Liberation Organization leaders have been allowed to travel into and out of Gaza.

What the Israelis hope to accomplish is unclear. Some feel they are still dreaming that one day Gaza will be administered by the Egyptians, and the West Bank by Jordan. Both Arab countries, as well as all Palestinians, vehemently oppose this. And in the meantime Israel continues to violate the Thirteenth Clause of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement. You have the right to move about freely within your country. You also have the right to travel freely to and from your own country, and to leave any country.”

Daoud Kuttab is the founder of Ammannet Radio in Amman, Jordan, Director of the Modern Media Institute at Ramallah's Al Quds University campus, and a colleague of PNN

This article was also published in the Jerusalem Post

http://www.aljazeerah.info/15%20n/Assassination%20Attempt%20Targeting%20Palestinian%20Prime%20Minister,%20Ismail%20Haniyeh,%20After%20Returning%20to%20Gaza,%20One%20Guard%20Killed,%2091%20Injured.htm
(http://www.aljazeerah.info/)
Assassination Attempt Targeting Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, After Returning to Gaza, One Guard Killed, 91 Injured

Haniyeh allowed to enter without $35m; one bodyguard shot dead, son and advisor wounded in clashes at border crossing
Date: 15 / 12 / 2006 Time: 10:00
Gaza - Ma'an -

One of Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh's bodyguards was shot dead and six others were injured, including the son of the prime minister and a key advisor, on Thursday night when Haniyeh's convoy came under intense gunfire as he returned to Gaza from Egypt, after many hours of waiting to cross the border at Rafah. Media sources report that Haniyeh was forced to leave to leave $35 million in Egypt, which he had been carrying in suitcases.

Medical sources confirmed the death of Abdul Rahman Nassar, 19, and confirmed that the son of the prime minister is suffering from a serious injury after being shot in the face. Meanwhile, a key advisor to the prime minister, Ahmad Yousuf, was moderately injured and being treated in hospital.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum confirmed the death of the guard, Abdul Rahman Nassar, saying, "The man was killed after an attempted assassination".

An eyewitness said that "Hamas armed men shot in the air in a sign of delight when the convoy of the prime minister entered through [Rafah crossing], that created a state of chaos. The prime minister's guards began shooting at the shooters and that caused many injuries."

In addition to shooting in the air, Hamas supporters also threw sweets at the convoy to show their happiness at Haniyeh's safe return.

Haniyeh, who spent several hours on the Egyptian side of the border waiting to be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, said angrily after arriving home around midnight, "we know who shot at the convoy and we know how to deal with them".

On Thursday, Israel informed the Palestinians that Rafah crossing will be closed in order to prevent Haniyeh entering with reportedly tens of millions of US dollars. Reuters and other sources have reported that Haniyeh was carrying $35 million in cash in suitcases after carrying out a fundraising tour of Arab and Islamic countries, including Iran, Qatar and Sudan.

Reuters says that over the past two weeks, Haniyeh has received pledges of up to $350 million. However, Haniyeh was forced to leave the $35 million in Egypt where associates have been left to deal with it, Reuters reports.

According to Aljazeera, Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said: "The money he was carrying is not across the border, it is now in a bank in Egypt."

However, Israel, after banning the prime minister from entering with the money and delaying him for several hours, agreed to allow him to enter without the money. It is reported that secret negotiations took place to enable his entrance.

Haniyeh blames Israel for delaying his entrance and the other consequences. He assured that his visit to Arab and Islamic countries was successful and achieved its goals.

The Palestinian territories have been left critically strapped for cash since Hamas' election victory in January 2006 which prompted the Quartet, comprising of the UN, EU, US and Russia, to stipulate that any new Palestinian government must meet their three demands in order to qualify for international funding or diplomatic recognition: recognise the state of Israel's right to exist, renounce terror, and adopt all the previously signed peace agreements made between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Just hours before Haniyeh's return, over a dozen Palestinians were injured when brief clashes erupted between Hamas supporters and the pro-Fatah presidential guards stationed at the crossing.

Tensions have been high in the Gaza Strip this week following the death of three boys, all under ten, on Monday morning. They were the sons of a senior security officer known to be a Fatah loyalist. An Islamic judge was also shot dead outside a 'Sharia' courtroom on Wednesday. On Thursday there was an armed car chase and a revenge case of abduction following an arrest raid by pro-Fatah security officers of a faction member believed to be linked to the murder of the three young boys.

Haniyeh was forced to cut his foreign tour short due to the mounting tensions, and amid rumours that President Abbas may announce a referendum on early elections.

Hamas Accuses Fatah of Attack on Premier

By IBRAHIM BARZAK Associated Press Writer

Dec 15, 2006, 7:56 AM EST

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) --

Hamas and Fatah-allied gunmen exchanged fire in Gaza City and Ramallah on Friday, fanning fears of widescale fighting between the rival Palestinian groups a day after gunmen shot at the entourage of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

The street battles in the Gaza Strip and West Bank came amid Hamas accusations that a powerful Fatah leader orchestrated the attack on Haniyeh. Leaders of both groups had warned in recent days that the spiraling violence threatened to bring the Palestinians to civil war.

The fighting cast a cloud over celebrations Friday to mark Hamas' 19th anniversary. However, the Islamic Resistance Movement pushed ahead with its rallies, and at least 60,000 people gathered at a stadium in Gaza City for a celebration Friday afternoon. Haniyeh was expected to make an address.

The fighting Friday in the normally peaceful city of Ramallah began when Hamas supporters marched toward the center of town, where Fateh-allied police were deployed in advance of the Hamas celebrations. A total of 32 people were wounded by stones and gunfire, including a man hit in head by crossfire, hospital officials said.

In Gaza City, masked Hamas gunmen waged battle with Fateh-allied police near a security post in the middle of the city. The four-minute battle sent civilians running for cover.

The Gaza battle, a block from the home of Mohammed Dahlan, came hours after Hamas accused the Fateh strongman of orchestrating the attack on Haniyeh at the Rafah border terminal.

That violence at Rafah on Thursday erupted after the Israeli occupation government temporarily barred Haniyeh from returning to Gaza after a tour of Muslim countries. Angry Hamas fighters stormed the border terminal and engaged in a gunbattle with security forces stationed there who are loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah.

After Haniyeh finally crossed, unidentified men began firing toward him in an attack that killed one of his bodyguards and wounded his son.

Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman, said Dahlan "planned and organized" what he called a "cowardly assassination attempt" and said those behind the shooting "will not escape punishment."

Fateh spokesman Tawfik Abu Khousa dismissed the accusations and called for an official investigation.

"These accusations are posing a grave threat to Palestinian unity," he said.

Abbas aide, Saeb Erekat, said Hamas had only itself to blame for the melee at the border crossing.

"We hold Hamas fully responsible for what happened yesterday at Rafah, both the chaos and destruction, and Hamas is fully responsible for whatever may harm Dahlan or any other Palestinian citizens," Erekat told reporters in Ramallah.

Abbas' Presidential Guard, which is in charge of security at the terminal, also denied involvement in the attack, which it said occurred during "complete chaos" at the terminal. In all, 27 people were wounded in the gunbattles at the border terminal.

Radwan also accused America of involvement in the shooting, saying that it resorted to violence after its efforts to bring down the Hamas-led government failed.

"This is an absurd allegation," said Geoff Anisman, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar, of Hamas, blamed collaborators with Israel for the attack on Haniyeh, and Interior Minister Said Siyam blamed Abbas, saying he was responsible for security at Rafah.

Thousands of Hamas supporters, including dozens of gunmen, attended the funeral for Haniyeh's bodyguard, chanting: "Death to collaborators. Death to traitors. Hamas will take revenge."

Following the attack, masked Hamas fighters joined members of a Hamas-led paramilitary group in the streets of Gaza City on Friday morning. The heavily armed men were also deployed around the houses of Haniyeh, Al-Zahar and Siyam in Gaza City.

The violence came amid a political deadlock between Abbas and the Hamas-led Cabinet and parliament following failed efforts to form a unity government. Abbas hoped such a government would end crippling international economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won January elections.

Abbas was to address the Palestinians on Saturday on his plans for ending the impasse and was expected to threaten early elections. A call for new elections, which Hamas says is illegal and has likened to a coup attempt, would likely further inflame the situation.

The latest round of Hamas-Fateh fighting erupted Monday with a drive-by shooting that killed the three children of a Fateh security official and continued Wednesday with the gangland-style execution of a Hamas judge.

On Thursday, Haniyeh rushed home from a trip abroad to try to quell the violence.

But the Israeli occupation government, which still controlls movement of Palestinians to and out of their country, ordered the Rafah crossing closed to keep Haniyeh from bringing in an estimated $35 million he had collected abroad to help alleviate the Palestinian financial crisis. Israeli occupation government officials said Haniyeh could return to Gaza without the money. Maria Telleria, spokeswoman for European monitors at the crossing, said Haniyeh left the funds in Egypt.

Meanwhile, Hamas fighters waiting outside stormed the terminal, shooting in the air. The Presidential Guard returned fire, and terrified travelers who ran for cover. Crying women and children hid behind walls and taxis, while the European monitors fled.

The rampage destroyed furniture and computer equipment inside the terminal and plunged the area into darkness before Haniyeh was allowed to cross.

Thursday's unrest was likely to strain the U.S.-brokered deal that turned over control of the crossing to the Palestinians last year after four decades of Israeli control. The border can only operate in the presence of European monitors. (But the Israeli occupation government still has a veto power on who can cross the border, as what happened yesterday).

Despite the chaos, Telleria said the European monitors had sent a team to the terminal to assess the damage and figure out when the border can be reopened.

"We need to continue operating as soon as possible," she said. "There is no way we can think about withdrawing the mission."

Israeli occupation government Deputy Occupation Minister (inaccurately dubbed as Deputy Defense Minister) Ephraim Sneh told Israel's Army Radio that government officials made the right decision not to let Haniyeh bring the money into Gaza, adding that if Haniyeh had been killed, "I wouldn't put up a mourning tent."

Israel Blocks Haniyeh’s Return

Arab News, GAZA, 15 December 2006 —

The Israeli occupation government prevented Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh returning to Gaza from a trip abroad yesterday to stop him bringing in money donated by Muslim states.

Palestinian officials and Western diplomats said Haniyeh, a leader of the governing Hamas movement, was planning to enter the impoverished Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing with $35 million of cash in suitcases.

An Israeli security source said Israel had “indications” that Egypt, which has allowed Hamas officials to pass through the border with funds in the past, had confiscated all or some of the cash in Haniyeh’s possession.

The source suggested Haniyeh would be allowed to cross without the money once European border monitors who had been evacuated returned and the crossing reopened. A source at Rafah said two of Haniyeh’s aides would remain behind with the cash.

An Egyptian security source, however, said the money will be deposited into an Egyptian bank, which will transfer it into a Palestinian Authority account.

“We are awaiting the return of the Europeans so that we can cross tonight,” Haniyeh told a Hamas radio station. “Soon I will be with you.”

Some 2,000 Hamas supporters, including men firing in the air, stormed into the Rafah border terminal after Israel ordered it shut, witnesses said. A Hamas police force and a contingent loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas also shot in the air in a bid to clear the terminal, but the rival security groups then began shooting at each other, and at least six people were wounded, the witnesses said.

Israeli security sources said Defense Minister Amir Peretz had given the order to close Rafah border crossing after receiving information that Haniyeh was trying to bring in money after his two-week fund-raising tour. Haniyeh has visited countries including Qatar, Iran and Sudan to raise money for his government, which has struggled to function due to international sanctions including financial rsanctions imposed after Hamas’ election win in January.

Since those sanctions were imposed, Hamas officials have managed to bring about $80 million in cash into Gaza via Rafah, according to European diplomats.