Word: fatah
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...Hamas and Fatah militiamen have clashed repeatedly in the last three weeks, including on three separate occasions in just the last two days. Early Monday morning, three men were killed in Khan Yunis during a shoot-out between the factions that followed a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings. On Tuesday morning, trouble ensued in Gaza City after Hamas gunmen approached the heavily guarded house of a Fatah official; bullets again flew, injuring nine people, including five children. That same afternoon, at the funeral of a Fatah foot soldier killed the prior morning, gunfire erupted again, injuring three more...
...peaceful. By refusing to deal with or fund a government led by Hamas, or even allow the transfer of funds from friendly Arab neighbors, the U.S. and the European Union have added to a morass of problems that have plunged the entire Palestinian Authority into crisis and given Fatah an opportunity to claw its way back into power - principally, for now, by sparking a conflict over the control and make-up of the Palestinian security forces...
...Last month, Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas, using his presidential authority, appointed an ally as the head of the Preventative Security Apparatus, which is charged with overseeing security in the West Bank and Gaza, enraging Hamas leaders who felt their new power was being undermined. The Hamas-led Interior Ministry responded by forming its own paramilitary force under the command of veteran militant Jamal Abu Samhadana (whom Israel wants dead). Thus was the stage set for this week's gun battles, which occurred the day after Abbas went to Gaza for meetings with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas...
...casual observer, the clashes appear to be part of a full-scale ideological war between Fatah and the more militant Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel. But in actuality, as individuals on both sides seem to agree, the conflict is more narrowly defined. A senior Fatah official in Gaza tells TIME that "this is a dispute between Hamas and the Preventive Security Forces," and Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad echoes that view, declaring that "there are some individuals who are making up these problems...
...Fatah was rejected by Palestinian voters because of its rampant corruption and its failure to bring tangible gains to the Palestinians. In the months since its drubbing at the polls, the movement has further discredited itself on the Palestinian street, where its gunmen are mounting attacks on both Israel and on Palestinian institutions in the hope of undermining the new Hamas government. The idea that Fatah can, in the near future, be voted back into power looks farfetched to close observers of Palestinian politics. Indeed, many fear that if the decision by the Islamists to enter democratic politics is thwarted...