Gazans fear clashes in Hamas-Fatah security dispute

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – A new Palestinian police force being set
up in Gaza by the governing Islamist Hamas movement has raised
fear of violence.

Tensions between Hamas and the rival Palestinian Fatah
group have soared since Hamas swept to power in a January
election.

Hamas’s Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades will be the backbone
for the 3,000-member force. Fatah, which opposes its formation,
has announced plans for a 2,000-strong militia of its own.

But while some Gazans predict armed clashes between Hamas
and Fatah gunmen, others see the new police force as a means of
fighting lawlessness in an area ruled by militia might.

“We have tens of thousands of policemen but they have no
real orders to end chaos,” said 60-year-old Hajj Abu Ahmed.

“We need only a few thousand with a clear mandate and the
determination to do the job, and Hamas people want to do that
because without security, their government will fail,” he said.

Nonetheless, Abu Ahmed, a former well digger, sees “a clash
coming … because some parties do not want to lend a hand to
Hamas even if they do right.”

Ala Hussein, 40, a Fatah supporter, voiced opposition to
the new unit, saying with 60,000 members, the existing security
forces should be able to do the job.

“But I also admit that police need to take serious action
against crime and chaos, so that there will be no justification
for a new force,” he said.

Since Hamas took office in March 29, it has been locked in
a dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah over control of
the security forces and foreign policy.

BACKUP

Hamas officials have said the new unit would provide backup
for police on various missions and protect government officials
if they came under attack.

Chaos that had intensified since Israel left the Gaza Strip
last year has worsened in recent weeks amid verbal exchanges
between Hamas and Fatah leaders.

A previously unknown group linking itself with al-Qaeda has
threatened to kill Fatah officials, calling them infidels.

Eyad Mahmoud, a 26-year-old taxi driver, said economic
difficulties in Gaza, where the Hamas-led government has failed
to secure payments for at least 160,000 Palestinian Authority
employees in March and April, has deepened frustrations.

“Lots of guns, political differences and no money can only
lead to more despair and disappointment and maybe violence
too,” he said.

The financial crisis began after Hamas formed a government
in Marc and Israel, the United States and the European Union
withheld funding to pressure Hamas to recognize the Jewish
state, renounce violence and accept past interim peace deals.