Moncton Forum

Palestinians embroiled in revenge killings

By AP

RAMALLAH -- Geography is playing a big role in the violent Palestinian power struggle: When Hamas attacks in its stronghold in the Gaza strip, its rival Fatah retaliates in the West Bank, where it holds sway.

The pattern of bloodshed in the two Palestinian enclaves, separated by Israel, repeated itself on the weekend in a rampage against Hamas supporters in the West Bank, where Fatah gunmen shot an office manager and a university professor in their legs and kidnapped a deputy mayor.

The attacks came two days after Hamas militiamen in Gaza killed a Fatah-allied colonel and seven bodyguards in a rocket barrage.

Fatah says its dominance of the West Bank holds Hamas in check and could keep the lid on what some fear will turn into a full-scale civil war in Gaza.

But to maintain that dominance, Fatah militants in the West Bank have resorted to new tactics -- including kidnapping government officials and shooting Hamas sympathizers at random.

After snatching the Hamas deputy mayor of the West Bank city of Nablus, Mahdi al-Khamali, his captors released a video yesterday showing him flanked by gunmen -- a scene familiar in Iraq, but a first in the Palestinian areas. Any attack in Gaza will be avenged in the West Bank, a gunman warned in the video.

The division of turf between Hamas and Fatah is largely linked to Israeli troop deployment.

Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza in September 2005, enabling Hamas to build and expand its militia. By contrast, Israel controls the West Bank and has badly weakened Hamas militants there with arrests.

Gaza, a narrow band of Mediterranean coast and the landlocked West Bank, lie on either side of Israel's borders, and it is impossible for most Palestinians to travel between them. Of the 3.8 million Palestinians, about 37 per cent live in Gaza and 63 per cent live in the West Bank.

Fatah gunmen also have been targeted by Israel in the West Bank, but most of Fatah's firepower comes from the security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a political moderate. Last week, U.S. President George W. Bush asked Congress to provide US$83 million to train and equip Abbas's force.

Since winning parliamentary elections a year ago, Hamas has invested heavily in its Gaza paramilitary unit, with millions of dollars in support, mainly from Iran.

The militia has 5,500 members, but thousands more sympathizers can easily be mobilized. Abbas, who heads Fatah, Saturday outlawed the militia, prompting defiant declarations by Hamas it would more than double the number of fighters.

Hamas also has established its own arms industry in Gaza, building anti-tank rockets, mortar shells, land mines and hand grenades. Smuggling tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border help refresh supplies. Some of Hamas' weapons engineers were trained abroad.

The paramilitary unit also has bought SUVs and German-made minivans and set up training camps throughout Gaza.

On the West Bank, by contrast, Hamas militants remain underground or only appear in public without weapons, for fear of being targeted by Israel.

More than 30 Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting since December, most in Gaza. Gunmen affiliated with Fatah have also carried out brutal attacks against Hamas in Gaza, including executing an Islamic court judge linked to Hamas.