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Wow what a f'in mess
Hamas claims full control of Gaza - CNN.com

Hamas claims full control of Gaza
POSTED: 7:18 p.m. EDT, June 14, 2007
Story Highlights
• NEW: Hamas fighters overtake presidential compound, security office
• NEW: U.S. says it supports Fatah, but Hamas' advance is apparent
• Palestinian President Abbas of Fatah dissolves unity government
• EU announces it is suspending $112 million in humanitarian aid
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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Fighters from the Islamic party Hamas claimed full control of Palestinian Authority security agencies in Gaza late Thursday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved his unity government and declared a state of emergency.

Fighters loyal to Hamas, led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, waved their green banners from atop the headquarters of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza City and took numerous prisoners from Abbas' Fatah party.

Abbas adviser Tayeb Abdel Rahim said Hamas was attempting a military coup.

By late Thursday, Hamas had seized control of all Palestinian Authority security installations in the territory, Palestinian security sources said. The presidential compound in Gaza City fell shortly before midnight (5 p.m. ET), Hamas sources told CNN. (Watch how Hamas crushed Fatah) Video

In his emergency declaration, Abbas dismissed Haniya and announced the creation of an interim government staffed by his Fatah allies, which would have to be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council after 30 days. Abbas vowed to hold new elections "as soon as the situation on the ground permits," Abdel Rahim said.

But Palestinian legislator Saeb Erakat, an Abbas ally, earlier had told CNN that Gaza "is now officially out of our control as the Palestinian Authority."

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fouzi Barhoum, said earlier that Hamas was imposing Islamic law on Gaza. But speaking from Damascus, exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal denied the movement would place the territory under religious law.
Unity government shaky from the start

Hamas won control of the Palestinian government during legislative elections in 2006, but Fatah -- which has dominated Palestinian politics for decades -- continued to control the Palestinian Authority's security forces. The previous year Abbas won the presidential election.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States stands behind Abbas, whom it has supplied with about $60 million in security assistance.

"He was elected in 2005 by a large margin," Rice said. "We fully support him in trying to end this crisis for the Palestinian people and give them an opportunity for a return to peace and a better future."

Hamas and Fatah formed a unity government in February in an effort to stop periodic street battles and restart international funding, particularly from the United States and the European Union. Those funds were cut off after Hamas refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Widespread fighting between the two factions erupted Monday, and Fatah gunmen ignored Abbas' calls for a cease-fire on Tuesday. At least 70 people have been reported killed in the week's clashes.

A Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told CNN that Hamas had to rein in Fatah commanders in the security forces "who were against the law" and trying to undermine the unity government.

"Someone has to control the situation and bring them to the law," Hamdan said. (Watch: Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan speaks to CNN Video)

Hamas gunmen on Thursday captured the Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City and took control of the southern Gaza town of Rafah, which lies near a key border crossing with Egypt.

Hamas fighters ransacked captured installations and led away shirtless Fatah prisoners. Their fates were unknown late Thursday. Hamdan denied reports that Fatah captives were being executed in the streets.

"That happened to our members on the hands of some well-known officers," he told CNN. "I believe they are trying to blame us by the things which they have done."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said although Fatah continues to hold some positions, "the trend line toward Hamas extragovernmental security and military forces controlling important sectors of Gaza seems to be continuing."

Earlier, a source in Abbas' office said the president would call for a multinational force to keep order in Gaza. McCormack said the United States would consider contributing troops to any such force -- but he added, "I think it would be difficult to find forces that would be ready and effective in going into such a clearly non-permissive environment."
Anti-Hamas reaction in West Bank

About 40 percent of the Palestinian population lives in Gaza, a longtime Hamas stronghold. In the Fatah-dominated West Bank, Abbas' followers ransacked and set ablaze the offices of Hamas officials in Nablus.

"This is a natural reaction to the massacres in Gaza," student Rajih Sami said.

A Hamas radio broadcast called on six senior Fatah military officials to surrender themselves as "traitors." Hamas sources said later that a leader of Fatah's military wing in northern Gaza, Samih Madhoon, had been killed, but he was not one of the six who Hamas was seeking.

Israel has viewed the fighting with alarm, calling for an international force to patrol the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent new and more powerful armaments from being smuggled in if Hamas gained control of the territory.

"The situation in Gaza is dangerous, and the danger is that Hamas will take over and turn Gaza into 'Hamastan' -- to a kingdom of thugs, murderers, terrorists, poverty and despair," said Ephraim Sneh, Israel's deputy defense minister. "That's the meaning of Hamas control over Gaza."

The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, announced Thursday that it is suspending $112 million in aid for the Palestinian territories. In addition, the commission announced it has suspended all 16 of its relief projects in Gaza for the first time, because of the lack of security.

Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said he hopes the projects "can resume very soon."

"This is a time when people desperately need protection and support," Michel said. "The warring parties must respect the principles of international humanitarian law, and do everything possible to facilitate safe access by relief agencies to the civilian population."