Piecing the fragmentary accounts together — looks like Hamas is winning, which puts Condi’s strategy of “Pick your favorite terrorist and back him with money and arms” is in serious jeopardy....
Mortar shells fired at Abbas’ office in Gaza
YNet ^ | June 12, 2007 | Ali Waked
Posted on 06/12/2007 9:20:34 AM CDT by Alouette
Chaos in Palestinian Authority reaches new peak: Hamas takes over Fatah bases, headquarters in all of northern Gaza Strip, conquers other wide parts of area. Palestinian president meets with Fatah leaders to discuss possibility of quitting unity government. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades calls on members to take to streets
Ali Waked and agencies Latest Update: 06.12.07, 16:41 / Israel News
A loud explosion was heard Tuesday afternoon near the office of Palestinian President Mamhoud Abbas and some of the Palestinian Authority’s security headquarters in Gaza City, Palestinian sources reported.
It later turned out that mortar shells were fired at Abbas office.
The Palestinian president plans to meet with senior Fatah members on Tuesday evening to discuss a possibility of quitting the unity government.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, announced a state of high alert among its members, and instructed all of its cells to take to the streets of Gaza and face Hamas members.
On Tuesday afternoon Hamas fighters captured several positions from the rival Fatah movement and threatened to step up the offensive after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of the Hamas prime minister.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused his Hamas rivals of staging a coup.
“All information points to a trend in which some of the political and military leaders of Hamas are planning a coup against the legitimate institutions, thinking they will be able to control the Gaza Strip by force,” Abbas’ office said in a statement.
There were no injuries in the early-morning attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home - the second in two days. But the attack underscored the increasingly ruthless nature of the fighting, which has killed 18 people in recent days. Exasperated Egyptian mediators said the bitter rivals turned down an appeal to meet for truce talks.
Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd al-Rahman said the organization’s central committee was reconsidering its part in the Palestinian unity government due to the violent clashes.
Hamas’ military wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, published a warning to Palestinian security officials affiliated with Fatah not to report for duty due to the infighting in Gaza.
The warning said that any security official seen in the streets would be “suspected of participating in the injury of the Palestinian people and may get hurt”.
Exchanges of fire between the rival factions continued, with witnesses reporting of an attack by Hamas gunmen on the home of Fatah’s spokesman in the Strip, Maher Miqdad. Two Hamas members were injured during the assault.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning three teenage girls belonging to the same family, as well as a 70-year-old woman, were killed in the infighting.
Palestinian sources later reported that Fatah gunmen shot and killed a Hamas member, raising the number of dead in clashes between the two parties since Monday to 18.
According to the reports, the man who was killed was identified as Amro Rantisi, the nephew of Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz Rantisi who was assassinated by the IDF in 2004.
Gun battles were also reported in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Earlier, Hamas gunmen stormed and seized control of a Fatah-affiliated mosque; the Islamist group has declared a heightened state of alert.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848895/posts
Jun. 12, 2007 9:18 | Updated Jun. 12, 2007 9:24
UN envoy: ME picture is ‘getting darker’
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen raised an “alarm” about the situation in the Middle East, warning that the region faces the possibilities of full-scale war, a fresh effort to contain the current violence, or energetic diplomacy to try to bring lasting peace.
“The picture which emerges is very dark, and apparently getting darker,” he told reporters on Monday. “So there are reasons for real concerns in the international community.”
Roed-Larsen, the current UN envoy for Lebanon-Syria issues who for many years was the top UN Mideast envoy, said “the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East has changed fundamentally over a few years.”
“A few years ago, as it had been over many, many decades, the center of gravity for all the conflicts were the Israeli-Arab conflicts,” he said. “Now, there seems to be four epicenters of conflict in the region with their own dynamics, the Iraqi issues, the Iranian issues, the Syrian-Lebanese issues, and of course the heart of hearts, the traditional conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli issue.”
More: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570251580&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull