Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday declared Hamas' paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip illegal.
Abbas' office said the decision was made "in light of continued security chaos and assassinations that got to a number of our fighters ... and in light of the failure of existing agencies and security apparatuses in imposing law and order and protecting the security of the citizens."
Abbas has also demanded that the force be integrated into existing security structures and reshuffled the leadership of Palestinian security services. "The executive force is illegal... and will be treated as such if it is not immediately integrated... into legal security services as stipulated by basic law," said the statement from the presidency.
Abbas also "decided to reshuffle and make new appointments in the security services and their leadership," it said.
