Monday, June 9, 2008
Hamas leader cautious on reconciliation with Abbas
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip played down on Monday the chances of quick reconciliation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
"Things are still at the beginning and it may take a long time," said Ismail Haniyeh, whom Abbas dismissed as prime minister of a Hamas-led unity government last June after the Islamist group routed secular Fatah from the Gaza Strip.
Abbas's call last week for "a national and comprehensive dialogue" has been welcomed by Haniyeh, though aides to Abbas said there was no change in his demand that Hamas give up control of the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh said any dialogue should be held "without conditions". "There should be no winners and no losers."
Haniyeh cited resistance from Israel as a factor that could delay reconciliation.
U.S. President George W. Bush is pushing Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to strike a deal on Palestinian statehood this year. But Israel has said it could review its ties with Abbas if he were to mend relations with Hamas, which refuses to renounce violence or recognise the Jewish state. (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Friday, June 6, 2008
Palestinian Rivals Step Towards Reducing Rift
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israeli warplanes targeted a Hamas-run security post in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, injuring 29 Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza medical sources. In the Eastern Gaza City neighbourhood of al-Shuja'iya, a 27-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli special forces during another invasion.
As the Israeli military invasions and attacks continue unabated in the occupied Gaza strip, movement towards a so-called Palestinian national unity government seem possible, according to local politicians.
On Thursday, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Prime Minister Ismayil Haniyeh of the Hamas party extended an open invitation to PNA President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that Hamas's hand "reached out" to the Fatah party to hold talks on national dialogue, reconciliation and political unity.
Abbas had said on Wednesday that he hoped to "restart" unity talks with the elected government of Hamas, a political body that has been isolated and branded a terrorist organisation by the United States and Israel since its democratic election in January 2006.
"With the speech that Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) delivered on June 4th, it was a breakthrough," Ahmad Yousuf, top political advisor to Haniyeh in the Hamas foreign ministry, told IPS. "On Thursday, the Prime Minister delivered a speech responding to Abu Mazen. I hope that with Abu Mazen's step forward, Haniyeh will give two more steps forward, and we can meet in the middle. This could be the beginning of the reconciliation of the rift between Fatah and Hamas." (IPS)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Human rights abuses seen up in Gaza and W.Bank
Human rights conditions have worsened in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since Hamas ousted Fatah in Gaza last year, a Palestinian rights group said on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) said in its annual report, rights abuses had increased in both territories after Islamist Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip following clashes with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction in June.
"Our report finds that unfortunately because of what happened in Gaza, and the violent confrontation between Fatah and Hamas, grave human rights violations have resulted," PICCR head Mamdouh al-Aker said.
"There is a regression in the status of human rights in Gaza and the West Bank," he told Reuters.
Abbas sacked a Hamas-led government following Hamas's seizure of Gaza on June 14 and appointed a Western-backed administration in the West Bank -- a move that eased trade sanctions. Israel has since tightened its blockade on Gaza. (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Israel, Palestine
Abbas meets with Hamas reps in surprise move
In a surprise move, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met late Monday night with a senior Hamas delegation in his office in Ramallah.
The unexpected meeting came amid reports about an impending prisoner exchange between Hizbullah and Israel.
The meeting focused on the reported deal and efforts to achieve a cease-fire between the Palestinians and Israel.
PA and Hamas officials expressed hope that the prisoner exchange would pave the way for a similar deal between Israel and Hamas. However, they refused to say whether the meeting between Abbas and the Hamas delegation was linked to the deal between Israel and Hizbullah.
"We welcome the news about a breakthrough in the talks between Israel and Hizbullah, especially with regards to the release of [Lebanese prisoner] Samir Kuntar," said a senior PA official in Abbas's office. "We hope that this would lead to the release of [kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl.] Gilad Schalit and Palestinian prisoners."
Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip refused to say whether the case of Schalit was part of the deal between Hizbullah and Israel. (JPost)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Hamas wants Arabs to broker Palestinian accord
Palestinian group Hamas is open to Arab mediation in its dispute with rival Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas, the Arab League chief said in remarks published on Sunday.
Amr Moussa said Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal expressed the Islamist group's view during a telephone conversation to congratulate him for achieving rapprochement between Lebanese rivals, Asharq al-Awsat reported.
"Brother Khaled Meshaal spoke with me ... expressing willingness for a process of the same nature to end the dispute between Fatah and Hamas," Moussa said.
Qatar, spearheading an Arab League initiative, brokered a deal between Lebanese leaders last week defusing 18 months of political stalemate that erupted into fighting this month.
"Now there are many voices that demand a role for the league in all files and to continue this momentum to solve a number of problems, primarily ... achieving a unified Palestinian political stance," Moussa said. (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Monday, May 19, 2008
Palestinian forces arrest two Islamic Jihad militants
Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have arrested two Islamic Jihad leaders, a Palestinian security official said on Monday, in a U.S.-backed law-and-order campaign in the occupied West Bank.
Abdel Fatah Khuzaimiah, who was detained on Sunday, was the most senior militant taken into custody in the northern West Bank since hundreds of pro-Abbas security men deployed in the city of Jenin two weeks ago.
The security official said Jihad Nawadha, another Islamic Jihad commander in the area, was arrested by Palestinian forces on Friday.
Washington hopes the security campaign will show that Abbas can rein in militant groups -- Israel's main condition for Palestinian statehood. Both Khuzaimiah and Nawadha were long wanted by Israel.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces operating in Jenin early on Monday arrested Amar Saleh Abu Alon, a senior Islamic Jihad militant, an Israeli military spokesman said. (Reuters)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Palestinian man killed in West Bank
A Palestinian civilian has been killed after Palestinan president Mahmoud Abbas's security forces clashed with armed men for the first time since the launch of a US-backed security drive in the northern West Bank.
Mo'men Fawwaz Kmeil, 20, was shot on Tuesday as he tried to escape a standoff between Palestinian forces and local armed men in a cafe in the town of Qabatya near Jenin, residents said.
Palestinian forces said in a statement that the man was killed when an "outlawed group" opened fire on the security men.
The killing came after hundreds of Palestinian national security troops and presidential guards were deployed in the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday. (Al Jazeera)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Top US official to head Blair's Jerusalem mission
In an effort to upgrade US involvement in the work of the Quartet's Mideast envoy Tony Blair, Washington has sent senior State Department official Robert Danin to work for the former British prime minister in Jerusalem.
A spokesman for Blair said Sunday that Danin - who is US deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs - would head Blair's Jerusalem mission.
Danin succeeds Donald Bandler, a low-key, retired US diplomat who held the job on an interim basis for less than a year.
"Rob Danin brings great experience and understanding to the job and Tony Blair is delighted he has agreed to come on board at this critical time in helping the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community's effort to secure peace," the spokesman said.
US President George W. Bush's decision to send Danin to Jerusalem is seen as a gesture of support to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who visited Washington last week.
It is also part of intensified efforts by Washington to revitalize the shattered Palestinian economy. (AP)
Labels: Fatah, Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Hamas urges Abbas to declare failure
Hamas has urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to officially declare the failure of peace talks with Israel and to resume national unity negotiations with the movement and other Palestinian factions.
The appeal came in response to Abbas's announcement that he failed to make progress in his talks with US President George W. Bush last week.
Abbas is scheduled to brief Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his visit to Washington during a meeting between the two in Sharm e-Sheikh on Sunday. The two will also discuss Egypt's efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas.
PA officials in Ramallah warned that the failure of the peace talks with Israel would "strengthen" Hamas and other extremist groups in the Middle East.
The officials told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas was "very disappointed" with the results of his talks in Washington. (JPost)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Killing in the West Bank Exposes a Furtive War
When the preacher's body arrived at the hospital, his back was scarlet where he had been whipped with pipes. His legs were black with bruises. His wrists were sliced open and bloodied.
The Palestinian Authority, which had been holding Majd Barghouti in an intelligence-service prison for the previous week, soon declared that the popular Hamas imam, or prayer leader, had died of a heart attack.
But eyewitness accounts, photographs, video and an independent Palestinian investigation released this month suggested that he was tortured to death during his February detention.
"They wanted the sheik to admit something he wasn't going to admit," said Midhat Amriyeh, a 27-year-old laborer who said he witnessed Barghouti's death from a nearby cell. "There was no way out." (Washington Post)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, U.S.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Iranian, Lebanese officials to skip Doha Forum over Livni's participation
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni arrived on Sunday for a first visit in Qatar, where she is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on international dialogue and peace before the Doha Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade.
Foreign Ministry sources said that senior officials from Iran and Lebanon have decided to boycott participation in the forum due to Livni's participation.
Those officials include Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabi Berri, former Lebanese foreign minister Fauzi Saluh and former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.
While in Qatar, Livni hopes to convince Arab states to bolster their support for the Palestinian Authority to enable effective negotiations for a peace settlement.
Livni is due to address the Doha Forum on Monday evening, according to the forum agenda.
Livni also hopes to use the three-day visit to build a consensus among Arab nations against Iran's nuclear ambitions and to promote a "gradual" normalization of ties between Israel and Gulf states in order to facilitate the peace process. (Haaretz)
Labels: Fatah, Iran, Lebanon, Qatar
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Fatah veterans fear 'young guard' coup
Veteran Fatah officials in Ramallah warned over the weekend that some of their "young guard" colleagues were planning to stage a "coup" against the faction's leadership.
The allegations came amid growing tensions in Fatah over preparations to hold its Sixth General Conference for the first time since 1989. The conference is expected to elect new leaders and members for Fatah.
However, the power struggle between the old guard and young guard in Fatah, which appears to have escalated in the past few weeks, has cast doubts over the faction's ability to hold its long-awaited conference.
Moreover, it has raised doubts as to Fatah's ability to pursue peace talks with Israel.
The tensions reached their peak last month when Fatah leaders traded allegations over their involvement in financial scandals. Documents leaked to the media suggested that top Fatah leaders had embezzled millions of dollars. (JPost)
Friday, April 4, 2008
Hamas man "tortured to death" in custody: lawmakers
Palestinian lawmakers probing the death in custody of a preacher from the Islamist Hamas movement said on Thursday he had been "tortured to death" by security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.
A self-appointed investigation team comprising six independent lawmakers determined that Majd al-Barghouthi died as a result of torture and said the head of the Fatah-run intelligence services, Tawfiq Tirawi, should be held to account.
Another commission which Abbas appointed in late February to investigate the matter has not yet delivered its verdict, although a pathologist working on behalf of Fatah said he had not found signs of torture on Barghouthi's body.
Independent lawmaker Hassan Khreisheh, a member of the investigating commission, said it had observed "torture marks" on the legs, back and arms of the 45-year-old father of nine, who had been detained for a week before his death.
He said witnesses had told the commission that Barghouthi had been tortured in a "mad manner". (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hamas and Fatah Supporters Clash at Gaza University
Hamas police and supporters on Monday beat a number of professors and students of Al Azhar University, the last bastion of Fatah in Gaza, wounding several, witnesses said. Hamas denied it had acted improperly and said the police restored order.The students and staff were protesting a rally that Hamas insisted on holding inside the university campus in memory of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the militant Islamic group who was killed in an Israeli air strike in March 2004.
Al Azhar University has continued to operate, despite having been raided five times since Hamas routed rival Fatah forces and took control of Gaza last June.
Before dawn on Monday, Hamas activists entered the compound and set up equipment for the rally, hanging pictures of Hamas leaders and Hamas flags. When members of the academic staff protested outside, Hamas police beat them with clubs, said Ayman Shaheen, a professor of political science. Mr. Shaheen said he was hit twice.
“All they know is the language of force,” Mr. Shaheen said of Hamas. “We try to talk to them but they don’t listen.” (NY Times)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Friday, March 28, 2008
Hamas urges Arab summit to back Yemeni bid for reconciliation with Fatah
Hamas wants this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus to back a Yemen-sponsored reconciliation agreement between the group and its Palestinian rival Fatah, a pro-Hamas Web site quoted the group's leader as saying on Friday.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in exile in Syria, was also quoted as urging Arab leaders to support its fight with Israel, although he reiterated the Islamist group was open to a conditional truce.
The Gaza-based Web site said Meshal wrote to Arab leaders requesting support for Hamas-Fatah dialogue, after a Yemen-brokered agreement to revive talks between the rival factions appeared to falter this week.
Meshal called on Arab leaders to "shoulder your national and brotherly responsibility to foster a Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue", according to the report, which was also carried by London-based pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.
Hamas seized control of Gaza last June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah forces. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led unity government and pursued U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel. (Haaretz)
Labels: Arab Leauge, Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, Yemen
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Arab League: Syria summit to adopt Yemen plan for Hamas-Fatah truce
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa announced Wednesday that Thursday's Arab summit in Damascus will adopt a Yemeni initiative aimed at ending disputes among the Palestinians.
Moussa arrived in Damascus on Wednesday to join a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers to be held in the Syrian capital on Thursday. He is to attend the two-day convention of the summit on Saturday.
"The Arab summit will adopt all the crucial and sensitive Arab issues, mainly issues related to the situation in Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan and the Palestinian territories," Moussa told a news conference.
Moussa confirmed that the Arab Summit, "which welcomed the Yemeni initiative of reconciliation, will adopt the initiative and will include a clause about it in the final statement of the summit." (Haaretz)
Labels: Arab Leauge, Fatah, Hamas, Syria
Fatah demands Hamas cede Gaza before reconciliation talks
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction on Wednesday ruled out talks with Hamas unless the Islamist group first cedes control
of Gaza, casting doubt on a Yemen-sponsored reconciliation push.
Fatah and Hamas, which seized control of the coastal enclave last June, agreed in Yemen this week to revive direct talks after months of hostilities to "return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents."
But an apparent dispute quickly broke out. Hamas has said talks will start on April 5 while Abbas's office insisted the Islamist group must first relinquish control of the Gaza Strip.
"We are ready to open a new chapter but the Palestinian condition remains unchanged, and that is a complete and a total reversal of the coup," Abbas's media adviser Nabil Amr told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"This is the final position of the Palestinian National Authority, of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and of Fatah." (Haaretz)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
New cease-fire 'ends fighting' between Fatah and Islamists at Ain al-Hilweh
Quiet returned to Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp over the weekend after a cease-fire between Islamic militants and fighters of the mainstream Fatah faction ended heavy clashes. The hundreds of civilians who had fled the fighting in the densely populated Ain al-Hilweh camp outside the southern port city of Sidon began returning to their homes after the truce took hold.
Fatah fighters exchanged rocket fire with militants of Jund al-Sham for some four hours in the camp's main street late on Friday prompting the exodus of civilians.
Gunshots were subsequently heard in Sidon itself, with a Fatah leader saying at least four people had been wounded in the fighting.
"There is a cease-fire ... The regrettable clashes that took place have ended" following mediation by another Islamist group, Osbat al-Ansar, Fatah official Mounir al-Maqdah said. (Daily Star)
Labels: Fatah, Lebanon, Palestine, Refugees
Monday, March 24, 2008
Qureia: Fatah signed reconciliation draft with Hamas due to mixup
Top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia on Monday said Fatah signed a proposal outlining a path to reconciliation with Hamas because of a mixup.
Under the Yemeni plan, Fatah and Hamas agreed on the goal of uniting in a single Palestinian government. The proposal was signed Sunday by a representative from Hamas and by a senior Fatah official, former Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed.
Qureia, who heads the Palestinian team in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on Monday suggested that al-Ahmed was hasty. He said al-Ahmed called before the signing to get guidance from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but that Abbas was busy hosting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
The senior Palestinian official added that there was a misunderstanding involved in the signing. Other Abbas aides say al-Ahmed should not have signed. (Haaretz)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, Yemen
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Palestinian rivals reach agreement
Hamas and Fatah have signed a Yemeni-sponsored reconciliation deal and agreed to hold direct talks, Abu Bakr al-Qurbi, Yemen's foreign minister, said.
PLO and Hamas representatives reached the agreement in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday after negotiations appeared close to collapse.
The factions had agreed the previous day to continue reconciliation talks after a personal plea by Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, to end the crisis that erupted after Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip in June last year.
Azzam al-Ahmed, a Fatah politician, and Mousa Abu Marzouk, the Hamas chief negotiator, signed the deal in Saleh's presence at the Yemeni presidential headquarters.
Jacky Rowland, Al Jazera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said the deal, which agrees only to open talks on a number of issues, appeared to bear little substance. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Palestinian sources: No breakthrough in Hamas-Fatah reconciliation bid (Haaretz)
Senior Palestinian sources on Saturday denied reports of a breakthrough in reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah in Yemen's capital Sanaa.
On Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told reporters that Fatah had already agreed to the final version of a draft accord, and that Hamas had asked for time to consult their leadership. However, Hamas now seems to be delaying its response to the Yemeni demand that Hamas give up control of Gaza.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Satruday that Hamas had agreed only that the initiative could serve as a basis for talks and not as a precondition for immediate implementation. =
On Thursday, amid mutual recriminations, Fatah announced its people were
leaving Yemen. However, both sides subsequently acceded to a request of
Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to continue the talks through
Saturday. (Link)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Yemen FM: Hamas-Fatah talks reach breakthrough (Haaretz)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said Saturday that there had been a breakthrough in reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah negotiators in Yemen's capital Sanaa.
Al-Qirbi told reporters following a meeting between the sides that a draft agreement on an agenda and a timetable for the proposed dialogue had been agreed on by the two factions, but had yet to be approved by Hamas top leaders.
"A final formula was reached and Fatah agreed to it ... Our brothers in the Hamas movement asked for an opportunity to consult their (leadership)," Al-Qirbi said.
Under the draft agreement from the Yemen-sponsored talks, Hamas and Fatah would agree to hold direct talks in early April about a Yemeni plan calling for the situation in the Gaza Strip to return to the way it was before Hamas took it over.
The issue has been a main point of contention, with Fatah demanding that Hamas Islamists give up control of the territory, which the group seized in June after routing Fatah forces.
The Yemeni proposal also envisages the creation of another unity government and rebuilding of Palestinian security forces along national rather than factional lines. (Link)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, Yemen
Fighting ends in Lebanon camp (Al Jazeera)
Calm has returned to a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon after heavy clashes between fighters of the Jund al-Sham and the Fatah faction killed one man and injured at least four others.
The rival fighters exchanged rocket fire for four hours in the densely populated Ein al-Hilweh camp outside the city of Sidon on Friday night.
The victim and the four wounded belonged to Fatah, a Lebanese security official said. There was no immediate word on casualties among Jund al-Sham fighters.
The echo of gunfire reverberated in Sidon and prompted hundreds of civilians in the teeming camp to flee to safer areas.
An AFP correspondent said more than 100 Palestinian families fled the camp to take refuge in nearby Sidon.
The correspondent added that entire families took refuge in a neighbouring mosque, while others hid in cars which they had managed to take out of the camp, home to about 45,000 people. (Link)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Hamas, Fatah far apart as Yemen tries to mediate (Reuters)
Hamas voiced willingness on Wednesday to talk to Fatah as part of a Yemeni reconciliation initiative but said the secular faction must drop its demand the Islamist group first give up control of the Gaza Strip.
"We do not accept it as a condition to restore dialogue," Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said. "(The Gaza Strip) is only an item that can be discussed within the agenda of the talks."
Fatah official Ziad Abu Ein said it was sticking to the "fundamental condition that legitimacy must be returned to the Palestinian Authority" -- a direct reference to regaining Gaza sovereignty -- for contacts with Hamas to resume. (Link)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine, Yemen
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