Word: gaza
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...Correspondent Alan Johnston was released on Wednesday after 114 days in captivity because the Hamas authorities in Gaza made his kidnappers an offer they couldn't refuse: either they freed the Briton or they would be hunted down and killed, a senior Hamas militant told TIME. To Johnston's captors, the Army of Islam, an offshoot of a powerful criminal clan in Gaza known as the Dogmush, there was no doubting Hamas' resolve. In the 48 hours prior to the journalist's release, Hamas gunmen took up positions on rooftops around the Dogmush compound in Gaza City, cut off water...
...Hamas' efforts to free the journalist weren't necessarily altruistic. Democratically elected to power in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza in January 2006, Hamas is locked in a fierce struggle with the Fatah movement loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is backed by the West. This rivalry culminated in Hamas ousting Fatah's armed forces from Gaza after six days of gun battles last month. Abbas retaliated by firing Hamas Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh and his cabinet, but Haniyeh has refused to step down. The Islamic militants of Hamas are anxious to show Palestinians...
...MIDDLE EAST $600 million Amount of withheld Palestinian tax revenue Israel agreed to release in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party lost control of the Gaza Strip to the Islamic militant group Hamas $800 Average yearly per capita income in the Gaza Strip, compared with $20,000 in Israel...
...worthy partner for peace and a repudiation of Hamas' rejectionist agenda. The summit effectively ostracized Hamas from the Arab fold, warning that it will have no future political role in Palestine if it does not accept the rules of democracy and reverse its coup against Abbas' authority in Gaza. In the view of Arab optimists, Abbas now more fully understands the danger that Hamas represents to his own leadership as well as the Palestinians' future. All of this represents a strengthening consensus behind the peace process not seen since negotiations collapsed with the election of hard-line Prime Minister Ariel...
...King Abdullah, however, is adamant that Hamas be excluded to give Abbas more freedom of action - and also not to alienate Olmert or the Bush Administration, which refuse dealings with Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is in the middle: while in no hurry to reward Hamas for its Gaza takeover, he nonetheless believes that Hamas will eventually be a spoiler if kept out of power altogether...