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Injured Palestinians arrive at Israeli hospitals, share horrifying experiences of last few days. 'The women, children at Erez must get medical attention before it's too late,' says hospital official Shmulik Hadad Published: 06.19.07, 20:53 / Israel News The Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon saw only 3 of the 15 injured Palestinians who were given permission to enter Israel from Gaza through the Erez crossing and receive medical attention Tuesday. Meanwhile two other wounded Palestinians were admitted to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, suffering from gunshots. Both were determined stable. IDF forces allowed ambulances into the Erez crossing earlier Tuesday,...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has outlawed the Islamic militant Hamas movement and its militias, his office says.

29 Sivan 5767, June 15, '07 Published: 06/15/07, 1:26 PM Abbas Hailed as Moderate as Fatah on Rampage in Judea, Samaria by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas unleashed his party's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorist militia Friday, leaving at least one person executed and dozens of others wounded and arrested. Al Aksa said it murdered a 32-year-old Shechem area man as an answer to Hamas assassinations of Fatah terrorists in Gaza. The bloodshed spread to Tulkarm, east of Netanya, where masked Fatah terrorists sprayed fire indiscriminately and torched a Hamas office, according to the Bethlehem-based...

GAZA CITY (AP) -- On its first day of full rule in Gaza, the Islamic militant Hamas announced Friday that it is granting amnesty to senior Fatah leaders, signaling that it is seeking conciliation with the defeated forces of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas also said Palestinian security forces, now under its command, would take control of Gaza's crossing with Egypt, which was monitored by European observers until the last decisive battle for Gaza erupted earlier this week. Gazans awoke to a new reality Friday, fraught with uncertainty and fear that they'll become even poorer and more isolated. Streets...

The Gaza Strip’s violent transformation this week from PA-controlled territory to gunmen-controlled Hamastan will not, according to the leftist Israeli daily, Haaretz, give Washington any pause in its pursuit of President George W. Bush’s two-state solution to the ‘Palestinian’-Israeli conflict. On the contrary, reports the paper Friday, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice now plan to try and “fast track” “peace talks” that will see Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) handed over to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to “boost” his battered standing among his people. The US “aims to accelerate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to allow Abbas...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, June 14 (Reuters) - Islamist Hamas fighters hunted down key loyalists of the Western-backed Palestinian president in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after seizing most of the final strongholds of his secular Fatah movement in the enclave. After six days of fighting that have killed over 100 people and ripped apart Palestinians' hopes for a state, President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and declared a state of emergency. He held out the prospect of early elections but it was gun law not the constitution that held sway in Gaza. Hamas militants "executed" a top...

Ramallah - Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night issued a "presidential decree" dissolving the Hamas-led unity government and declaring a state of emergency in the Palestinian territories, PA officials here said. They added that Abbas informed representatives of the Quartet of his decision and asked for their backing. Abbas phoned US Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice and briefed her on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, the officials added. They said Abbas was also planning to call for deploying an international force in the Gaza Strip to restore law and order. "President Abbas has decided to fire...

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed the Hamas-led government and declared a state of emergency, reports say. Aides to Mr Abbas said the president will call elections as soon as possible in an effort to end fighting between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip. Mr Abbas will now rule the West Bank and Gaza by presidential decree. Hamas fighters have overrun much of Gaza, capturing key security buildings and hailing Gaza's "liberation". Aides to Mr Abbas said he dismissed the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and was preparing to appoint an independent as prime minister. The...

You mean there is a government there? Who knew. Bono to blame America.

HUNDREDS of Palestinian security forces loyal to the president, Mahmoud Abbas, went on a violent rampage against the Hamas-led government last night, riddling the Ramallah parliament and cabinet buildings with bullets in revenge for attacks by Hamas gunmen.The security men shot out the windows of the parliament before storming the cabinet complex, where they smashed furniture, destroyed computers and scattered documents. Dozens of gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a pro-Fatah militia, joined the security men. No casualties were reported, but one building was set on fire. The rampage followed an attack in Gaza early yesterday by Hamas gunmen...

Fatah gunmen go on anti-Hamas rampage AP - 21 minutes ago RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hundreds of Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday night, riddling the parliament and Cabinet buildings with bullets and setting them on fire in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen. The security men shot out the windows of the parliament building before storming the two-building Cabinet complex, where they smashed furniture, destroyed computers and scattered documents. No casualties were reported.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Monday talks aimed at getting the Hamas-led government to implicitly recognize Israel have failed to produce agreement and he will now call a national referendum on the issue, a participant said. "The dialogue has ended without results and we have no choice but to go ahead with a referendum," Khalda Jara of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian cited Abbas as telling participants at a meeting of Palestinian factions that included Hamas. She told The Associated Press that Abbas did not immediately set a date.

Hamas and Fatah appeared to be on the verge of a major confrontation on Sunday as representatives of the two sides stepped up their war of words over a controversial document drafted by some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Hamas officials on Sunday accused Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party of planning a "bloodless coup" to topple the Hamas government and said his proposed referendum was "illegal." The tensions come as Abbas's 10-day ultimatum to Hamas to accept the document or else he would call a referendum is due to expire on Monday night. At least...

Palestinian police have fought a series of gun battles with militants in Gaza City, killing a police officer and two civilians, and wounding 50 others. The clashes are part of a power struggle between the militant group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian police and Hamas militants fought gun battles in Gaza City. The fighting erupted after police tried to arrest the son of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the late Hamas leader who was assassinated by Israel last year. Witnesses say police stopped Mohammed Rantisi's car, but he refused to hand himself over. Police began shooting when they were surrounded by...

Ramallah, West Bank — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ordered a crackdown on Ramallah militants early Thursday after a group of gunmen fired at his compound in a sign of escalating tensions accompanying efforts to establish control over Palestinian towns. Also Thursday, police in the West Bank town of Tulkarem demanded the surrender of seven armed Palestinians who burned down a Palestinian checkpoint overnight. Mr. Abbas – elected president in a Jan. 9 vote after the November death of Yasser Arafat – has vowed to bring order to Palestinian areas and to reform his overlapping and corruption-plagued security forces. The task...

A leaflet distributed over the weekend by a hitherto unknown group called Fatah – The Reformist Path called for replacing the Palestinian leadership and threatened to liquidate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and many of his top aides. It's not clear who stands behind the leaflet, but some senior PA officials have pointed a blaming finger at former security minister Muhammad Dahlan. They said that when Arafat saw the leaflet, he cancelled a meeting planned with Dahlan last week. Dahlan has strongly denied responsibility for the leaflet, arguing that it was yet another attempt by his rivals to drive a...

Linked to this article now.... Just breaking

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gunmen angry over Yasser Arafat's overhaul of his security forces burned down Palestinian Authority offices in Gaza on Sunday. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat met with his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, to discuss the political crisis that erupted over continuing violence in Gaza and Qureia's attempt to resign as head of the Palestinian government. "I totally reject your resignation and consider it nonexistent," Arafat told Qureia at a meeting Sunday, according to Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Qureia told his Cabinet on Saturday he was firm in his decision to quit. Dozens of...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Militants sacked and burned Palestinian government offices Sunday, the latest sign of growing anger over Yasser Arafat's decision to reach into his old guard and choose a loyalist relative as his new security chief. A confrontation was brewing between Arafat - reluctant to yield significant power - and Palestinian militants, including some of Arafat's own officers. They are demanding deep reforms and new faces, Palestinian analysts said. The divide between the two sides centered on the appointment of Moussa Arafat, Arafat's cousin, as the new head of Palestinian security. Many Palestinians rejected him as a...