Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will demand that all armed groups in the Gaza Strip represented in the new parliament disband immediately after Palestinian elections in January, a top aide said Wednesday.
The aide, Rafiq Husseini, told The AP the Palestinian Authority waited for the Israelis to pullout before implementing the new security plan.
"Our plan is that ... by the election, the Palestinian street will be cleaned of militias and illegal weapons," he told The Associated Press. As of next week, all gunmen affiliated with the ruling Fatah movement would be absorbed into the security forces and thus be brought under control, Husseini noted.
The final phase "will include all Palestinian factions, and it ends with the parliamentary elections, as the president will ask all factions that have seats in the legislative council to disband their military wings in the areas under Palestinian control," he conveyed.
