Word: gaza
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...unity government was ratified on Saturday, in simultaneous proceedings in both Gaza and the West Bank connected via video conference technology to overcome Israeli prohibitions on most Palestinians' traveling between the two locations. Israel's response was predictably negative; officials pointed out that the new government had not accepted international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel, and that even the moderates who now run key ministries are tainted by their political cohabitation with Hamas. Other governments showed more flexibility, ranging from full recognition of the new government (Norway, Arab countries) through cautious optimism (the European Union, Russia, the United...
...appointment "illegal," and urged Abbas to reconsider. The Palestinian Authority President could not possibly have been unaware of the impact his move would have. Dahlan, 45, currently a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was previously the boss of the Preventative Security office. He has extensive business interests in Gaza, and has been dogged for years by corruption allegations. A native Gazan from Khan Yunis, he was a leader of the first intifada and has spent time in Israeli jails. He later rose though the ranks of the PLO and took part in negotiations in Oslo...
...then, he is loathed by Hamas members, whom he labeled "murderers" in January, and against whom he led a crackdown a decade ago. He also has enemies among some of the more powerful Palestinian clans, and was accused of playing a major role in the factional violence that convulsed Gaza in recent months...
...surprising: It's been a long, hard, often bloody year in the Palestinian territories, with recent spasms of internal violence threatening to devolve into all-out anarchy. But Hamas's Haniyeh and Abbas, who heads the rival Fatah organization, emerged from a final flurry of meetings in Gaza City with a deal on a new cabinet in which Hamas will have 12 seats, Fatah will have 6 and the remaining 7 will go to independents and members of smaller parties. They also managed to agree on a political platform for the new administration...
...Evidence of how mean those streets can be was seen again in Gaza City yesterday, when gunmen kidnapped veteran BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who has lived and reported in Gaza for the past three years. Leaders from both Fatah and Hamas immediately decried the kidnapping, with Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad calling it a "brutal and criminal action, and a shameful action, done by irresponsible people who are trying to create more tension in our society." There are clearly a number of groups seeking to do that, and others seeking to create more tension within Hamas itself. Among them...