Hamas Vs Fatah

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[size=18]Abbas sacks Hamas-led government[/size]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed the Hamas-led coalition government and declared a state of emergency.

Aides said the president would seek to call elections as soon as possible, after deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip.

However, a Hamas spokesman immediately dismissed the president's decision.

After a day of bitter fighting Hamas was said to be in total control of Gaza, having now also taken the presidential compound in Gaza City.

More than 100 people have died during a week of violent battles on the streets of Gaza.

Hamas fighters overran most of Gaza throughout Thursday, capturing the headquarters of Fatah's Preventative Security force and hailing Gaza's "liberation".

After nightfall militants entered Mr Abbas' presidential compound, which had been left undefended when Fatah men slipped away earlier.

Hamas celebrated the capture of the compound, describing it as the "last bastion" of Fatah's power in Gaza.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said Hamas was in total control of Gaza, adding that the crisis had wider implications.

"What is happening now is not only the collapse of the Palestinian national unity government but actually the collapse of the whole Palestinian Authority," he told the BBC.

[b]'Outlaws'[/b]

After dismissing the government, Mr Abbas will now rule by presidential decree until the conditions are right for elections, a senior aide announced.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says the West Bank and Gaza Strip will now effectively be split from one another - Gaza run by Hamas and the West Bank by Fatah.

An aide to Mr Abbas, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, announced the president's decision in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"I [Abbas] have issued the following decree: the sacking of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

"Second, the proclamation of the state of emergency in all the Palestinian territories because of the criminal war in the Gaza Strip, the taking over of the security services of the Palestinian Authority, the military coup and the armed rebellion by outlaws."

Mr Abbas was also open to the idea of an international peacekeeping force being deployed in the region, his aide said.

But Hamas swiftly rejected Mr Abbas' decision.

"In practical terms these decisions are worthless," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

"Prime Minister Haniya remains the head of the government even if it was dissolved by the president," he told Reuters news agency.

Hamas won a surprise victory in Palestinian elections in early 2006, but has since been engaged in a violent power struggle with Mr Abbas' Fatah faction.

Hamas, an Islamic organisation, rose to prominence in Gaza during two Palestinian uprisings and refuses to recognise or negotiate with Israel.

Fatah, a secular political grouping headed by Mr Abbas, ran the Palestinian Authority until 2006 and officially recognises the Jewish state.

The two groups were nominally working together in a three-month-old government of national unity.

[url= News[/url]

Can not comprehend it!

Tell you what though, hamas are cowards! Can't beat Israel so let us beat Palestinians!

There is something amiss here.

Allah Knows best and that land will be free one day!

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition, burns a picture to obtain the ashes!

US backed Fatah is on the run.
Their top commanders have fled to Egypt.

Satan has left them in the lurch.

[b]Chickens?[/b]

Fatah police officers flee to Egypt, Independent Online
Ninety-nine Palestinian police officers loyal to the Fatah movement fled to Egypt
Ninety-nine Fatah policemen flee to Egypt
Fatah cops flee to Egypt. Sunday Times

[b]100 senior Fatah officials flee Gaza Strip for Egypt[/b]

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[b]Fatah flees, abandoning U.S.-supplied weapons, vehicles to Hamas [/b]

Hamas has captured thousands of assault rifles and scores of combat vehicles financed by the United States and supplied by Egypt and Jordan to the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas seized the weapons, ammunition and vehicles while capturing security installations in the Gaza Strip aligned with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. For the most part, Fatah-aligned PA officers fled the Hamas assaults.

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[b]Hamas redraws Middle East map by routing Fatah in Gaza[/b]

Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent - June 15, 2007

IN JUST six days of fighting the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement has seized full internal control of the Gaza Strip, redrawing the political map of the Middle East.

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

"mmm" wrote:
Can not comprehend it!

Tell you what though, hamas are cowards! Can't beat Israel so let us beat Palestinians!

It is not as simple as that.

The violence was from both sides, but somehow Hamas managed to get a resoundingly upper hand in Gaza.

It could have been more peaceful and less devisive if parts of Fatah would have given up the power they lost in the elections...

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

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[size=18]Hamas demands BBC man's release[/size]

[i]The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, says it has sent a message to the kidnappers of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, demanding his release.[/i]

A Hamas spokesman told reporters in Gaza - which is now controlled by the group - that it would not allow the BBC correspondent's captivity to continue.

He said Mr Johnston was the guest of the Palestinian people and should be made welcome in their midst.

The Army of Islam says it is holding Mr Johnston, abducted in Gaza on 12 March.

Palestinian militants purportedly belonging to the group posted a video on the internet on 1 June showing the first pictures of the reporter, in which he said he was being well treated.

The 45-year-old was the only Western reporter permanently based in Gaza and his abduction has triggered appeals for his release from lawmakers and rights groups around the world.

More than 160,000 people have now signed an online petition calling for his release.

[b]Hamas warning[/b]

Hamas spokesman Abu Obayda said his organisation would no longer allow the journalist to be held captive and that it was in contact with Mr Johnston's abductors.

"We have sent a message to his kidnappers to release him immediately. We warned against not setting him free. This is all I can say now," Mr Obayda told a news conference.

Mr Obayda was speaking a day after Hamas seized control of Gaza after a week of fierce fighting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah forces.

In response Mr Abbas has dissolved the three-month-old unity government and appointed a new prime minister. He plans to rule by presidential decree until conditions are right for elections.

[url= News[/url]

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Our Friday Khutba was based around the Ummah and Palestine.

Who is actually running Palestine....Hamas or Fatah? I thought it would be Hamas as they were elected.

"MuslimBro" wrote:
Our Friday Khutba was based around the Ummah and Palestine.

Who is actually running Palestine....Hamas or Fatah? I thought it would be Hamas as they were elected.

You'd think so. Power is not something you give up easily.

Right now Hamas controls Gaza, Fatah the West Bank.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Basically its gonna be split into two seperate countries just like pakistan and bangladesh were. i wonder which side is going to go to israel for help like bangladesh went to india...

Don't just do something! Stand there.

Fatah has already got all the approvals the world over to receive financing and direct aid.

All the tax money being withheld from the West Bank should start flowing in freely within hours I would say.

On Gaza - even though Hamas "won" the people will suffer. More than they are atm - no matter how much better or worse than Fatah they turn out to be.

It's a shame really.

PS Under British law I am fair certain saying you support Hamas legally makes you a terrorist.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

British journalist Robert Fisk blames the Great Satan for suffering of the Palestinians people.

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Robert Fisk: [b]Welcome to 'Palestine' [/b]

The Independent 16 June 2007

How troublesome the Muslims of the Middle East are. First, we demand that the Palestinians embrace democracy and then they elect the wrong party - Hamas - and then Hamas wins a mini-civil war and presides over the Gaza Strip. And we Westerners still want to negotiate with the discredited President, Mahmoud Abbas. Today "Palestine" - and let's keep those quotation marks in place - has two prime ministers. Welcome to the Middle East.

Who can we negotiate with? To whom do we talk? Well of course, we should have talked to Hamas months ago. But we didn't like the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people. They were supposed to have voted for Fatah and its corrupt leadership. But they voted for Hamas, which declines to recognise Israel or abide by the totally discredited Oslo agreement.

No one asked - on our side - which particular Israel Hamas was supposed to recognise. The Israel of 1948? The Israel of the post-1967 borders? The Israel which builds - and goes on building - vast settlements for Jews and Jews only on Arab land, gobbling up even more of the 22 per cent of "Palestine" still left to negotiate over ?

And so today, we are supposed to talk to our faithful policeman, Mr Abbas, the "moderate" (as the BBC, CNN and Fox News refer to him) Palestinian leader, a man who wrote a 600-page book about Oslo without once mentioning the word "occupation", who always referred to Israeli "redeployment" rather than "withdrawal", a "leader" we can trust because he wears a tie and goes to the White House and says all the right things. The Palestinians didn't vote for Hamas because they wanted an Islamic republic - which is how Hamas's bloody victory will be represented - but because they were tired of the corruption of Mr Abbas's Fatah and the rotten nature of the "Palestinian Authority".

I recall years ago being summoned to the home of a PA official whose walls had just been punctured by an Israeli tank shell. All true. But what struck me were the gold-plated taps in his bathroom. Those taps - or variations of them - were what cost Fatah its election. Palestinians wanted an end to corruption - the cancer of the Arab world - and so they voted for Hamas and thus we, the all-wise, all-good West, decided to sanction them and starve them and bully them for exercising their free vote. Maybe we should offer "Palestine" EU membership if it would be gracious enough to vote for the right people?

All over the Middle East, it is the same. We support Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, even though he keeps warlords and drug barons in his government (and, by the way, we really are sorry about all those innocent Afghan civilians we are killing in our "war on terror" in the wastelands of Helmand province).

We love Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, whose torturers have not yet finished with the Muslim Brotherhood politicians recently arrested outside Cairo, whose presidency received the warm support of Mrs - yes Mrs - George W Bush - and whose succession will almost certainly pass to his son, Gamal.

We adore Muammar Gaddafi, the crazed dictator of Libya whose werewolves have murdered his opponents abroad, whose plot to murder King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia preceded Tony Blair's recent visit to Tripoli - Colonel Gaddafi, it should be remembered, was called a "statesman" by Jack Straw for abandoning his non-existent nuclear ambitions - and whose "democracy" is perfectly acceptable to us because he is on our side in the "war on terror".

Yes, and we love King Abdullah's unconstitutional monarchy in Jordan, and all the princes and emirs of the Gulf, especially those who are paid such vast bribes by our arms companies that even Scotland Yard has to close down its investigations on the orders of our prime minister - and yes, I can indeed see why he doesn't like The Independent's coverage of what he quaintly calls "the Middle East". If only the Arabs - and the Iranians - would support our kings and shahs and princes whose sons and daughters are educated at Oxford and Harvard, how much easier the "Middle East" would be to control.

For that is what it is about - control - and that is why we hold out, and withdraw, favours from their leaders. Now Gaza belongs to Hamas, what will our own elected leaders do? Will our pontificators in the EU, the UN, Washington and Moscow now have to talk to these wretched, ungrateful people (fear not, for they will not be able to shake hands) or will they have to acknowledge the West Bank version of Palestine (Abbas, the safe pair of hands) while ignoring the elected, militarily successful Hamas in Gaza?

It's easy, of course, to call down a curse on both their houses. But that's what we say about the whole Middle East. If only Bashar al-Assad wasn't President of Syria (heaven knows what the alternative would be) or if the cracked President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad wasn't in control of Iran (even if he doesn't actually know one end of a nuclear missile from the other).

If only Lebanon was a home-grown democracy like our own little back-lawn countries - Belgium, for example, or Luxembourg. But no, those pesky Middle Easterners vote for the wrong people, support the wrong people, love the wrong people, don't behave like us civilised Westerners.

So what will we do? Support the reoccupation of Gaza perhaps? Certainly we will not criticise Israel. And we shall go on giving our affection to the kings and princes and unlovely presidents of the Middle East until the whole place blows up in our faces and then we shall say - as we are already saying of the Iraqis - that they don't deserve our sacrifice and our love.

How do we deal with a coup d'état by an elected government?

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

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How do we deal with a coup d'état by an elected government?

Lol

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

For Israel's part the fact that Hamas got elected has no bearing on the fact that Hamas is hostile to Israel.

Admin, saying you support Hamas does not make you a terrorist in British or any law. It might make you a nutcase. Hamas and Fatah have between them taken far more Palestinian lives in the last week that Israel has over a much longer period. [url= Palestinians are seeking sanctuary in Israel[/url] rather than live under that hellish elected government. Despite the Hamas coup Israel will enable to passage of [url= to Gaza[/url]. However in their right minds they and anyone who does not seek their destruction cannot allow direct financing and arms. Hamas have already now taken control of Fatah's arms in Gaza and much highly sensitive intelligence including details of contacts between Fatah and the West going back some decades, that will no doubt result in further bloodshed. [url= number of Palestinians[/url] preferred Israel. [url= source.[/url]

Fatah is little better, however Syrian-Iranian Hizbollah in Lebanon, Al Qaeda and Iranian Hamas in Sinai and Gaza and Syria itself to the north do not make a happy combination for Israel. Israel has been pursuing a resumption of peace talks with Syria, at this time primarily as a way of averting an all-out war that is brewing. Beween Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and I daren't guess where else, the outlook for the summer is a showdown that won't be pretty. Hence Israel in the unenviable position of picking an enemy would do well to side with and perhaps then to somewhat pacify Fatah, whose Al Aqsa Brigades are similarly barbaric and traditionally just as hostile towards Israel.

An aside on an unlikely scenario: The division brings to mind that Gaza was formerly annexed by Egypt and that Jordan - which was the majority of the Palestine mandate - had annexed the West Bank up until the 1967 war. Neither have wanted them back, but it may be a viable route to peace or a de facto happening should they become willing to take responsibility. Otherwise Egypt is liable to contend with a strong Muslim Brotherhood base in the Sinai and the Hashemite rulers of Jordan with another uprising. The last time that happened Jordan responded a brutal crackdown. Perhaps this time they could work both with Fatah and Israel.

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

"Mr Honey's Day Out" wrote:
For Israel's part the fact that Hamas got elected has no bearing on the fact that Hamas is hostile to Israel.

I know.
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Admin, saying you support Hamas does not make you a terrorist in British or any law. It might make you a nutcase.
Betwqeen them two I am of the opinion that Fatah is the worse choice.

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Hamas and Fatah have between them taken far more Palestinian lives in the last week that Israel has over a much longer period.

Unfortunately true.
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[url= Palestinians are seeking sanctuary in Israel[/url] rather than live under that hellish elected government. Despite the Hamas coup Israel will enable to passage of [url= to Gaza[/url].

Coup by the elected givernment? Don't make me laugh.

I see this escalation as something the whole world participated in by refusing to deal with the elected government.

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However in their right minds they and anyone who does not seek their destruction cannot allow direct financing and arms. Hamas have already now taken control of Fatah's arms in Gaza and much highly sensitive intelligence including details of contacts between Fatah and the West going back some decades, that will no doubt result in further bloodshed. [url= number of Palestinians[/url] preferred Israel. [url= source.[/url]

Not suggesting it is a peachy situation. however if there are informants, they better run. I got no sympathy for them.

The wider world acted against the wishes of the Palestinian people when they refused to support the popularly elected government. The Palestinians in this also did their own misdeeds.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

I was adding a bit while you were replying. Apologies for cross-posting.

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

Apparently we strongly disagree on the subject.

The world is not responsible for the fighting there. Nor is the world responsible for this week's bridge and mosque bombings in Iraq, bus bombings in the Philipines, shellings and assassination in Lebanon, car bombings in Afghanistan (killing at least 5 children) and arson (against a number of schools), bombings and shootings in Thailand.

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

"Mr Honey's Day Out" wrote:
The world is not responsible for the fighting there. Nor is the world responsible for this week's bridge and mosque bombings in Iraq, bus bombings in the Philipines, shellings and assassination in Lebanon, car bombings in Afghanistan (killing at least 5 children) and arson (against a number of schools), bombings and shootings in Thailand.

the world isn't responsible for any of those situations-

the zionist-kafir-americans are!

I though I'd save Malik the trouble of having to type that

Don't just do something! Stand there.

Yes we do strongly disagree. Strongly.

The world is al fault for undermining the popularly elected government. it was an actions taken

PS are you sure about the British terrorism laws? I remember there was a big hoo haa a couple or so years ago, but cannot remember what was passed.

Anyhoo...

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[size=18]New Palestinian cabinet sworn in[/size]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sworn in a new emergency government that excludes his Islamist rivals, Hamas, who have seized control of Gaza.

Mr Abbas also issued decrees enabling new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to rule without parliamentary approval and outlawing all of Hamas's armed forces.

Mr Fayyad's predecessor, Ismail Haniya, has said the new government is illegal.

Israel's government said a non-Hamas administration would create a fresh opportunity for a partnership in peace.

The US has also said there will be no obstacles to re-engaging with the new Palestinian government.

[b]But Israeli officials have called for steps to isolate Gaza, which they say will be considered a "terrorist entity".[/b]

Israel fuel company Dor Alon cut off all fuel supplies to the Strip except those to the electricity generating plant, in a move which it said had been co-ordinated with the Israeli military.

Reports say the move could lead to severe shortages of petrol and cooking gas within days, unless it is reversed.

Gaza's 1.3 million residents are already facing shortages of food and other essential supplies, although Israel says it has no objection to letting through humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh was quoted by Israeli radio as saying that Israeli troops had been positioned in northern Gaza near the border.

[b]'Dishonourable events'[/b]

The new government took the oath of office before Mr Abbas, the leader of Fatah, in the presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The cabinet is said to be dominated by independents, with only Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh a member of Fatah.

Mr Fayyad, who served as finance minister in the previous administration, pledged to protect the interests of the Palestinian people.

"I swear by God that I will be faithful to the homeland and its sanctities, to the people and its national heritage, to respect the constitution and the law, and to fully protect the interests of the Palestinian people," he said.

He added that his cabinet would work to "put an end to the anomaly of the dishonourable events", referring to Hamas taking control of Gaza.

A decree signed by Mr Abbas allowed him to swear in the new cabinet and gave it the power to make decisions without the approval of parliament, in which Hamas has a majority.

A second decree outlawed a Hamas paramilitary force, the Executive Force, and other "militias" linked to the group.

But the BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says that Mr Abbas may not have the power to enforce the ban on Hamas's armed forces.

[b]Consensus 'ignored'[/b]

Hamas, meanwhile, dismissed the new government as illegal.

"This government is not national because it ignored the Palestinian national consensus," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

"Not only was the current national unity government established by law but also through national consensus and the accord between Hamas and Fatah.

"This government is similarly illegal, because the Palestinian basic law simply does not contain the words 'national government'."

Mr Abbas sacked Mr Haniya, a Hamas leader, on Thursday after factional fighting left more than 100 people dead in Gaza.

Shortly afterwards, the Hamas movement said it had taken over full control of the territory, as its gunmen ransacked Fatah offices and arrested or killed its fighters.
[url= News[/url]

I am pretty certain what i have highlighted is a crime against humanity under the Geneva conventions...

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

"Admin" wrote:
I am pretty certain what i have highlighted is a crime against humanity under the Geneva conventions...

Can you say anything about Hamas' warfare and the Geneva conventions?

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

In any event why is it incumbent on Israel to provide this? Gaza can get supplies from Egypt.

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

"Mr Honey's Day Out" wrote:
"Admin" wrote:
I am pretty certain what i have highlighted is a crime against humanity under the Geneva conventions...

Can you say anything about Hamas' warfare and the Geneva conventions?

yup. Crimes against humanity.

"Mr Honey's Day Out" wrote:
In any event why is it incumbent on Israel to provide this? Gaza can get supplies from Egypt.

In a non-smuggled form? I thought the whole point of closing the border was that it couldn't?

I seriously have been out of the news loop for a while, so I may be wrong.

(I used to be a newsaholic but for the past year or so I have less than skimmed... gone down from daily reading many major news sites and papers and watching the tv news on about 3/4 different channels down to visiting the beeb site once every few days, and even then mostly looking at the main headline followed by the "most read" section...)

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Hamas and Egypt have the border between them. Despite Egypt's efforts the border there is not secure. Maybe if Egypt and Israel refuse supplies they are both in violation, but they are not obliged to provide services to a terrorist state. As it happens any Israeli debt to Hamas' Gaza under the Geneva conventions is highly debatable, and if there is no reciprocality it is very hard to see how you can bind Israel to a set of rules which Hamas by its nature violates. How dare they?

[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]

The Border is still between Israel and Egypt, no matter if physically it is touching Gaza.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Israel is not going to win anything until it learns to behave in a civilised way.

In a gun verses gun fight, Israel has no chance; but in a reason versus reason, then the Grand Ayatollah may be willing to help out, even these Kaafirs.

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

Lol

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[size=18]Abbas accuses Hamas of coup plot[/size]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of trying to establish its own state in Gaza.

Mr Abbas condemned Hamas as "murderous terrorists" and "coup plotters", over the group's takeover of Gaza last week.

He ruled out talks with the Islamist group - a rival of his Fatah faction - but said the ongoing crisis should not prevent peace talks with Israel.

A Hamas leader in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, condemned Mr Abbas' speech as "full of lies".

"It was a long speech full of lies and fabricated stories... it is inappropriate for any president of a people to shut the door to dialogue with an integral part of his people whose weight and size he knows full well," Mr Hamdan said.

Last week, Hamas militants seized bases and government compounds in Gaza from rivals Fatah, which Mr Abbas heads.

Mr Abbas said the takeover was a premeditated attack agreed with unspecified "foreign elements" in the region.

It was his toughest speech since the escalating violence in Gaza culminated in last week's showdown, and left no room for misunderstanding his position on Hamas, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Ramallah.

[b]'Assassination bid'[/b]

In the wake of the Gaza takeover Mr Abbas sacked the Palestinian government, led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and replaced it with an emergency cabinet.

The president said talks with Israel should resume despite the crisis, calling on the international community to convene a conference to start peace talks.

"The atmosphere is not preventing a start to negotiations," he said.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), an umbrella political group, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"There is no dialogue with those murderous terrorists," Mr Abbas said, referring to Hamas militants.

Mr Abbas accused Hamas of trying to assassinate him during a planned visit to Gaza a month ago, saying he had seen videotapes in which militants discussed explosives that would be used to kill him.

The president said Hamas had given Israel an excuse to "punish an entire people" and warned Israel not to take advantage of the upheaval to separate Gaza from the West Bank.

[b]Stranded Gazans[/b]

Meanwhile, at least five sick Palestinians who had been trying to flee the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Israel for urgent medical treatment, Israeli officials said.

A teenager with leukaemia and at least four others passed through the tunnel at the Erez crossing in Israel, after Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to let wounded Palestinians through the crossing for medical assistance.

All foreign nationals living in Gaza were also allowed to cross into Israel.

Dozens of people have been stranded at the Erez border crossing since Hamas seized control of Gaza.

Most people fleeing have been denied entry by Israel, which controls the crossing, on security grounds.

Aid agencies were allowed to cross the border to deliver food and medical supplies, but the UN has warned of food shortages in Gaza within two weeks unless Israel lets normal shipments through.

[url= News[/url]

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

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[size=18]Abbas makes election law changes[/size]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has announced changes in the election law which could boost his Fatah party against rivals Hamas.

Under the new law, Palestinians will vote solely for party lists, while voting by district will be eliminated.

Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip after fighting with Fatah in June, described the move as illegal.

Mr Abbas revealed the changes as he met EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mr Solana is having talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders to help prepare for an international Middle East peace conference planned for later this year.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is special envoy for the Middle East peace sponsoring group known as the Quartet, is expected in the region later on Sunday.

[b]'No right'[/b]

Palestinian officials said the decree on election law had already been signed and would be published later in the day.

[b]The decree also requires all election candidates to recognise the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organisation as the "sole, legitimate representative" of the Palestinian people, a position not accepted by Hamas.[/b]

Hamas condemned Mr Abbas' move.

"The president doesn't have the right to make any changes to the law," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP news agency.

"He cannot conduct elections if Hamas doesn't accept them."

Rivalry between Hamas and Fatah has intensified since Hamas swept to victory in elections last year.

In 2006 half the seats were chosen on a national list and the other half by districts, where the Islamist movement reportedly had its biggest successes.

[url= News[/url]

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Fatah is US backed and therefore, it is going to be hated by ordinary population. That is why they were kicked out of Gaza. People did not like group that follows America.

US has been helping Abbas' party Fatah because they do everything that the Devil tells them.

Israel is very happy with Fatah. It arms these militants.

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

It had nothing to do with American backing. People felt they were corrupt.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

couldn't they just settle the whole issue of Hamas v Fatah by the age-old method of Rock, Paper, Scissors?

Best of 3 (unless thats too much of a 'christian' number then it would be best of 19) and the winner gets full control of Gaza and West Bank.

I think its just as likely to get a positive solution as all the methods so far (chucking people off buildings, ignoring democratic elections, etc)

Don't just do something! Stand there.

"Ya'qub" wrote:
the winner gets full control of Gaza and West Bank.

They had elections for that (call best of some large number...) Problem is who can force one side which is entrenched with power to give it up?

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

US and Israel are trying to set up another international peace conference for Palestinians.
Nobody takes seriously anymore the US "peace plans" and "roadmaps".

Therefore, Iran says it will hold a summit in Tehran to sort it out once and for all.

5 September 2007 - [b]"Iranian President to host Palestinian summit "[/b]

Iranian president to host Palestinian summit in Tehran, will try to deepen Iran's hold in PA, bring Palestinian leadership crisis to its end

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to hold a summit with heads of what US labels as Palestinian "terror" organizations, Al-Khaleej newspaper, which is published in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reported Wednesday.

Quote:

THE JERUSALEM POST, Sep 5, 2007

[b]Ahmadinejad to meet Palestinian leaders[/b]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to meet with Palestinian faction leaders in Teheran on Thursday, in an attempt to resolve the crisis between Fatah and Hamas, the United Arab Emirates paper Al-Khaleej reported on Wednesday.

Participants in the meeting will include Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) leader Nayef Hawatmeh, and the leader of the Syrian- backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Ahmed Jibril.

In addition, senior Fatah leader-in-exile Farouk Kadoumi, an adversary of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, will join the meeting, the report said.

According to Iran's Mehr news agency, Kadoumi met with Ahmadinejad on Tuesday. The Iranian leader praised the Palestinian organization for staying true to the path of "armed struggle," the report said.

"The Palestinian problem is still a gaping wound for the entire Islamic world and nations of the region," Ahmadinejad said. "The only way to treat it is through the resistance of the Palestinian nation, along with faith, unity and an unwavering stance."

The Iranian President added that nobody was capable of defeating the Arabs of Palestine, and promised that the world's superpowers were headed for destruction.

In January 2006, Ahmadinejad held meetings in Damascus with many of the same Palestinian leaders. In those talks, the Iranian president reaffirmed his country's support for the "Palestinian people's struggle," PFLP representative Maher Taher said in a statement afterwards.

[b]Ahmadinejad tells Fatah leader nobody capable of beating Palestinians[/b]

JERUSALEM POST

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with senior Fatah leader in exile Farouk Kadoumi Tuesday, praising the organization for staying true to the path of "armed struggle," Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

"The Palestinian problem is still a gaping wound for the entire Islamic world and nations of the region," Ahmadinejad said. "The only way to treat it is with the resistance of the Palestinian nation, along with faith, unity and an unwavering stance."

The Iranian President added that nobody was capable of defeating the Arabs of "Palestine," promising that the world's superpowers were headed for destruction.

[b]Arrogance 'will cause US downfall' [/b]

Mon, 03 Sep 2007

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the arrogance of the United States will eventually lead to its collapse.

Addressing a group of Iranian elite students, the Leader denounced Bush's latest verbal attacks as 'hateful, arrogant and violent' saying such threats cannot intimidate Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei added the hegemonic powers are sinking in the quagmire created by them, and they will eventually face collapse.

The Iranian nation has never been intimidated by such a language of threat and it would bring these intoxicated and arrogant powers to their knees through wisdom and prudence, the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei termed the stance adopted by the US and its allies on Iran's nuclear issue as a clear example of their bullying policies. "Those countries tell us you should not have nuclear technology because we don't trust you. Those who tell us these words waged two world wars and resorted to military force wherever they could. Their atrocities in Hiroshima, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Kosovo exemplify their manner and performance. "

Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated that Iran has never started a military aggression since the Islamic Revolution.

The Leader said Iran should become a scientific pole in the world, reiterating that the Iranian nation would use its scientific achievements to serve humanity.

Ayatollah Khamenei described science as an integral part of power adding, "The US and some Western countries use their scientific capabilities as a means to exert pressure on other countries. Therefore, we should also resist them using science. "

"That's why I have emphasized the importance of a scientific movement in recent years," the Leader concluded.


[b]Satan's power in the Middle East is about to collapse. [/b]

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

Good to see some initiative.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.