Iran and Syria work through Hamas to prevent a Palestinian State!
February 4, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
There have been nine cease fires between Hamas and Fatah during the last two months. Hamas has been the major roadblock to any sort of a peace with Israel because it refuses to recognize her as a nation, will not denounce terrorism, and fails to recognize any previous agreements the PA made with the Israelis. Hamas is really run from her headquarters in Syria by her supreme leader, who in turn gets his directives from Iran and Syria.
Iran and Syria don’t want to see a Palestinian State formed in the Gaza Strip
and West Bank. Hamas will not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a state in the Middle East, repeatedly stat
ing they want to drive Israel into the Sea. So Iran and Syria have indeed promoted the civil war now going on between Hamas and Fatah. It is very simple – civil war, no peace agreement – no peace agreement, no Palestinian State.
I do believe they will finally work out their differences, and somewhere on down the road, there will eventually be a peace agreement of short duration followed by a vicious surprise Jihad from the north.
The following three Jerusalem Post articles give a good synopsis of the current situation and negotiations proposed to end the crisis.
Jerusalem Post Article Number 1
PA officials accuse Iran, Syria of promoting Civil War
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST
January 28, 2007
Palestinian Authority officials on Sunday accused Iran and Syria of pushing the Palestinians toward civil war, saying Hamas is acting on orders from Teheran and Damascus.
The allegation came as the number of Palestinians killed in internecine fighting rose to 27. Six more Palestinians were killed Sunday in armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah gunmen in various locations in the Gaza Strip.
In a related development, Hamas and Fatah officials welcomed a Saudi invitation to hold reconciliation talks in Mecca.
The invitation, which was issued by King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, is the first of its kind and signals the Saudi government’s concern over the growing involvement of Iran and Syria in Palestinian affairs.
In Nablus, the largest West Bank city, Fatah gunmen kidnapped 10 Hamas members and demanded the resignation of PA Interior Minister Said Siam of Hamas and the dismantlement of Hamas’s “Executive Force” in the Gaza Strip.
“Iran and Syria are encouraging Hamas to continue fighting against Fatah,” said a senior official in PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s office. “They want to deliver a message to the Americans that there will be no stability in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon as long as Washington continues to ignore Syria and Iran.”
Another PA official said the leaders of Iran and Syria were also responsible for the failure of talks between Fatah and Hamas over the formation of a Palestinian unity government.
“They are putting heavy pressure on Hamas not to make any concessions that would facilitate the formation of a unity government,” he said. “They are trying to undermine US allies in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.”
Members of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, kidnapped 10 Hamas activists in Nablus, including Sheikh Fayyad al-Aghbar, a member of the city’s municipal council.
Eyewitnesses said Aghbar was snatched by dozens of Fatah gunmen as he waited in line inside the local branch of the Arab-Islamic Bank.
The Fatah gunmen also raided the local offices of the Hamas-run Education Ministry and kidnapped five employees affiliated with Hamas. The attackers destroyed furniture and equipment inside the offices, the eyewitnesses said.
A man who tried to prevent the gunmen from kidnapping his relative, who is also a Hamas member, was shot in the legs, they said.
The gunmen issued a statement demanding the resignation of Siam and the dismantlement of Hamas’s security force in the Gaza Strip. They accused Aghbar of issuing orders to Hamas gunmen in the West Bank to shoot Fatah members. The statement said the hostages were senior Hamas leaders in Nablus.
During an emergency meeting of the Hamas-led government in Gaza City, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged Palestinians to abandon violence and endorse dialogue as the only means for solving differences.
He appealed to Abbas to order all militiamen to withdraw from the streets and to remove security checkpo ints set up
in many areas in the Gaza Strip.
“Palestinian society does not need to be further militarized,” Haniyeh said. “The Interior Ministry alone is responsible for restoring law and order.”
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior Abbas aide, responded by holding Haniyeh’s government responsible for the latest deterioration because of its failure to respect the law and democracy.
“No one in Hamas has the right to shed alligator tears,” he said. “They are sending death squads to attack and destroy the homes of residents in the Gaza Strip.”
Abdel Rahman launched a scathing attack on Siam, accusing him of using the “Executive Force” to kill Palestinians.
“Where in the world do you have an interior minister who establishes a 5,000-strong force and orders it to kill anyone he chooses?” he asked. “How can a responsible man like Siam describe Fatah as a Zionist-American pawn?”
Abdel Rahman said Hamas had deployed dozens of snipers on rooftops in the Gaza Strip to kill civilians and attack public institutions.
“National dialogue is the only alternative to the dialogue of bullets,” he said. “It is also an alternative to killing children.”
Egyptian security officials based in Gaza City met Sunday with Haniyeh and Fatah leaders in a bid to end the fighting amid reports that Cairo had threatened to halt its mediation efforts because of the latest flare-up.
Sources in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post that the Egyptian officials, Burhan Hamad and Ahmed Abdel Khalek, delivered a warning to the two parties from Egyptian General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to the effect that Cairo would suspend its efforts if the fighting continued.
Jerusalem Post Article Number 2 – The Fighting Continues
Hamas, Fatah gunmen battle throughout Gaza Strip
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
January 29, 2007
Hamas and Fatah gunmen battled each other across the Gaza Strip early Monday, attacking security compounds, knocking out an electrical transformer and kidnapping several local commanders in some of the most extensive factional fighting in recent weeks.
Two people were killed and large parts of Gaza City were plunged into darkness.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt offered to mediate, as Information Minister Youssef Rizka of Hamas warned that the two sides are close to civil war. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said the infighting, which has claimed more than 60 lives since December, was shameful, and offered to host talks in the holy city of Mecca.
Jerusalem Post Article Number 3 – The Fighting Continues
Hamas captures key posts in Gaza
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST
February 3, 2007
Security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas suffered a major blow on Saturday when a number of their headquarters fell into the hands of Hamas militiamen in the Gaza Strip.
Some of the security installations were completely damaged by fire while others were leveled by Hamas militiamen and their supporters. The attackers captured documents and equipment as residents rushed to loot the offices.
“This was the biggest attack of its kind on our security headquarters,” a senior PA official told The Jerusalem Post. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough forces to protect the buildings. We’re very concerned that Hamas has taken over the security compounds and stolen many files.”
The official said he was unaware of reports that dozens of PA security officers had defected to Hamas in the past three days. He dismissed as “lies” claims by Hamas that American and Israeli security experts were helping Abbas’s forces.
Following three days of heavy fighting, Hamas and Fatah announced Saturday evening that they had reached another cease -fire
agreement and urged their supporters to halt the clashes.
Palestinian officials confirmed that Abbas will meet this week with Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in another bid to end the violence and reach an agreement on the formation of a Palestinian unity government.
The meeting, the officials said, will take place in either Saudi Arabia or Qatar, whose ruler phoned Abbas Saturday and invited him to
an urgent meeting in Doha.
At least 25 Palestinians were killed and nearly 300 wounded in the armed clashes since Thursday, when Hamas gunmen attacked a convoy of vehicles that was allegedly carrying weapons and military equipment for forces loyal to Abbas.
Among the casualties were four children and a woman. Hospital
officials, who appealed for blood donations, said 41 of the wounded are in critical condition.
The latest cease-fire – the ninth in the past two months – was reached with the help of Egyptian security officials based in the Gaza Strip. The seven-point deal calls for withdrawing all militiamen from the streets and rooftops, deploying PA policemen in troubled areas to impose law and order, releasing all those who were kidnapped by both sides and ending the war of words between the two parties.
The cease-fire, the second of its kind in the past few days, was reached during a meeting between Hamas and Fatah leaders in the Egyptian Representative Office in Gaza City.
Even after the agreement was announced, Fatah and Hamas gunmen continued to exchange gunfire in different locations of the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said the fiercest fighting took place inside and around Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital. At least 10 people were wounded, and 50 wounded in Saturday’s violence.
Hamas said the attack on the convoy of trucks was aimed at thwarting an attempt to deliver US-supplied weapons to Abbas’s forces. Hamas gunmen managed to seize some of the trucks, which entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, after killing and capturing several members of Abbas’s Presidential Guard who were escorting the convoy.
Hours later, hundreds of Presidential Guard officers stormed the Islamic University premises in Gaza City, killing a number of Hamas gunmen and setting many buildings on fire. A statement by the Hamas-controlled Islamic University said the library and several halls were destroyed, as well as a number of laboratories. University officials estimate the damage at more than $15 million.
PA security sources claimed that the raid on the university led to the discovery of various types of weapons, including rockets and rifles. Hamas, however, denied that its members had used the university to store weapons. Hamas officials said the real purpose of the attack was the belief that kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit was being held in a basement beneath one of the campus buildings.
Khaled Halak, a spokesman for the university, said the fire was still raging inside the building on Saturday as fire engines were unable to reach it because of the continued fighting on the streets. He said the 20,000 students who were supposed to resume studies on Saturday after a two-week recess have been asked to stay away.
PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas accused Abass’s forces of destroying and ransacking the university and urged the PA chairman to assume his responsibilities and stop such assaults on academic institutions.
Haniyeh also announced that his government would allocate one million dollars to help repair the damage.
In response to the attack on the Islamic University, Hamas gunmen set fire to the offices of the Fatah-run Al-Quds University in Gaza City. The student union at the university condemned the attack as cowardly and murderous and accused Hamas’s “Executive Force.”
“What does it mean to attack a university with rocket-propelled grenades as if it were a military fortress?” the union asked in a statement.
Hamas militiamen also fired a number of rockets at the Fatah-run Al-Azhar University in Gaza City.
No casualties were reported.
The attack on the Islamic University was also followed by raids on the headquarters of several PA security branches.
In one attack, 15 Presidential Guard officers were killed, while another resulted in the death of the head of the PA’s General Intelligence Force in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas gunmen also set fire or leveled a number of police stations and security installations belonging to Abbas’s forces.
In response, Abbas’s forces occupied the building of the Hamas-run Ministry of Agriculture and confiscated computers, furniture and documents. They also launched several rockets at the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Communications and Technology.
In Nablus, Fatah gunmen kidnapped Dr. Khader Sondak, dean of the Islamic affairs department at An-Najah University, who is affiliated with Hamas. The gunmen said he would remain in captivity until Hamas ends its siege of the home of Samih Madhoun, a senior Fatah operative in the Gaza Strip.
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