Gaza, 2007/06/15, IRIB

After one week of internecine and bloody in-fighting between Hamas and Fatah fighters in Gaza, it seems that the Fatah movement has been routed and the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas is now in complete control of key security offices and headquarters in Gaza.

On Thursday night, 14 June, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian authority president and Fatah leader, declared a state of emergency from Ramallah in the West Bank and dissolved the Palestinian "National Unity" government, which is led by Hamas. He also ordered the setting up of a national salvation government.

But the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, has announced that Mahmoud Abbas's decision to dismiss him and his government was "hasty", and he pledged to stay in power. Ismail Haniya told a late night Gaza news conference that Mr Abbas and his advisers had not considered "the consequences (of the decision) and its effects on the situation on the ground".

It is now becoming increasingly clear that President Abbas can no longer impose his authority in Gaza, where the flag of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas flutters on many key government buildings and offices in the crowded coastal strip.

Hamas officials have reacted to the decrees by President Abbas, by saying that his presidential orders carry little weight and are inconsequential and no longer important.

Hamas officials are also saying that the orders from the Palestinian self-rule authority are irresponsible and indicate that the Fatah movement and Palestinian authority do not want to calm down the situation and diffuse the current crisis. According to Hamas officials, the presidential decrees by Mahmoud Abbas have been taken under pressure from foreign powers and are not lawful.

The United States, France and the Zionist regime of Israel have all backed Mahmoud Abbas' decision to dissolve the "national unity" government, giving credence to suggestions that Mr. Abbas has acted under pressure from abroad.

Mostafa Barghouti, the Palestinian information minister in the "national unity" government, who is widely regarded as an independent Palestinian political figure, has admitted that serious mistakes have been committed in the way Palestinian self-rule authority handled the "national unity" government.

Political observers are saying that the current in-fighting between various Palestinian groups only benefits the enemies of Palestinian people, and Palestinians are the ones who lose out. Thus, virtually all political observers argue that an immediate stop to in-fighting must be brought about for the sake of the long-suffering Palestinian people.

Palestine