http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/76853FBA-D077-4D8B-BA19-880F69F4D97E.htm
Hamas says Abbas wants war

Ismail Haniya's bodyguard was killed in the Rafah incident and his son shot in the face according to other sources.

A senior Hamas official has accused Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, of starting a war after his security forces opened fire on a Hamas rally in the West Bank and firefights broke out in Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas's faction in parliament, told 100,000 of the movement's supporters at a noisy rally in Gaza City: "What a war Mahmoud Abbas you are launching, first against God, and then against Hamas."

Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and leader of Hamas, was more conciliatory at the rally, appealing for "national unity", but stopping short of explicitly calling for calm as he had during previous spikes in internal fighting.

At least 32 Hamas supporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah were wounded by gunfire from Abbas's forces, hospital officials said. Several were in critical condition.

Unity government

Tensions were at their highest in a decade and followed months of failed talks to form a unity government between the ruling Hamas Islamist faction and Abbas's once-dominant Fatah.

Hayya said Hamas would not agree to holding an early election or a referendum on the issue, a move that Abbas could announce in a speech planned for Saturday in an attempt to break the political deadlock.

Hayya did not say what Hamas would do if Abbas made such a dramatic announcement.

The violence broke out after Hamas, which controls the Palestinian Authority, accused a Fatah strongman and Abbas's presidential guard of trying to kill Haniya outside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18117
Salah Addin Brigades confirm they have not launched any projectiles since 26 November, remain committed to ceasefire
Date: 15 / 12 / 2006 Time: 11:49

Gaza - Ma'an - The An Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), have confirmed that they have not launched any projectiles at Israeli towns near the borders of the Gaza Strip since the declaration of the ceasefire on 26 November.

A statement issued by the Salah Addin Brigades on Friday said that "some brigades have used our names in issuing statements to announce launching of projectiles at Israeli towns, and here we would like to deny that, and confirm that we have not [launched projectiles]."

The statement also said that they are stressing the following:

"We did not launch … any projectile since the 26th November and we are committed to the ceasefire.

"Second, we are committed to what we have agreed upon with other factions and [we have] stopped the projectile launching at Israeli towns and targets inside Israel … the retaliation will come after studying that with other factions.

"Third, whoever issued these statements in our name has no relation with the [An Nasser Salah Addin] brigades and is not part of it.

"Fourth, the only website for the brigades which is speaking in the name of the brigades is www.moqawmh.com which anyone can review".

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18126
New political party announced - 'The Third Current'; tells Fatah and Hamas: "Stop it!"
Date: 15 / 12 / 2006 Time: 15:23

Ramallah - Ma'an - A former political advisor of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Mr Bassam Abu Sharif, has criticized both Hamas and Fatah in Ramallah on Friday morning and announced the establishment of a new Palestinian political group, which he is calling 'The Third Current'.

In a press conference in Ramallah, Abu Sharif said that 'The Third Current' "is a large current". He continued, "In the name of [the Third Current], we are telling the two conflicting movements … this is enough! Stop it! It is time to think of the Palestinian people and their future and their interests". Abu Sharif believes that both Fatah and Hamas are working for their own interests and not in the interests of the Palestinian people.

He asked the two movements, "Don’t turn the issue into an issue for your own narrow interests. The Palestinian people are in need of someone to serve them and liberate them, not for someone who kills for the sake of ruling and power".

Bassam Abu Sharif called on the Palestinians to end the strike "which harms the Palestinian people". He added that "the only people affected by the strike are the Palestinians - the sick and all other Palestinians".

He then declared that the Israeli intelligence is behind the internal strife and behind the rumors that result in Palestinians fighting each other.

In the name of 'The Third Current', Abu Sharif called on the Palestinians, "to be alert and cautious, and to avoid being dragged into the Israeli plans which aim to hurt the Palestinian unity and Palestinian interests".

He also called on the USA and its president to "stop talking and issuing promises to the Palestinians and start working on the peace process as the Palestinians are not able to stand further apartheid policy and subjugation".

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18124
Fatah-Hamas clashes in Ramallah: over 35 injured
Date: 15 / 12 / 2006 Time: 14:02

Palestinian security officer beats a demonstrator
in Ramallah Friday (MaanImages)
Ramallah - Ma'an - Palestinian President Abbas has ordered his presidential guards to be deployed in the streets of Ramallah in order to prevent any further clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters.

The decision was taken after over 35 Palestinians were injured, four seriously, in clashes between Hamas supporters and the pro-Fatah security forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday after the noon prayers. One of the seriously injured is a member of the national security forces, who sustained a head injury.

Our Ramallah correspondent reported that Hamas supporters had planned a peaceful march through the centre of the city on Friday. Abbas' presidential guards, 'Force 17', the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which is the main armed wing of Fatah, and the police forces attempted to prevent the demonstrators advancing through the streets. This sparked the clashes.

It was reported that the clashes left one dead but this news has not been confirmed.

In other news, student sources told Ma'an that a student from the Hamas movement in An-Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus had been shot at and was in a critical condition.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23220/1/
Explosion rocks Gaza city
IMEMC & Agencies - Friday, 15 December 2006, 09:50

An explosion rocked the center of Gaza city on Friday at dawn after bomb went off near a pharmacy.

Eyewitnesses reported that a group of unknown gunmen placed the bomb and then fled the scene, damage was reported but no injuries, local sources added