Supporters of the Fatah and Hamas exchanged gunfire and hurled firebombs at each other on Saturday after Hamas' political chief hinted that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah was a traitor.
Dozens of Palestinian protesters were injured in the clashes. Fighting started after student supporters of the factions hurled stones at one another outside Gaza universities and intensified when gunmen joined in. Medics said 20 people were injured.
On his part, PA information minister, Dr. Yousef Zurqa, urged all Palestinian parties to calm down at this point of time, and not to magnify small matters any further due to the sensitivity of the present stage the Palestinian people are passing through. He affirmed that the "Zionist enemy" was the lone beneficiary of such tense situation in the Palestinian arena.
Earlier, spokesman of the PA interior ministry Khaled Abu Hilal clarified that the "executive force" proposed by the PA interior minister, Saeed Siyam, was merely a back up force comprised of volunteers and not a replacement to any of the existing PA security apparatuses.
In a press conference at the Ramattan news agency in Gaza city, Abu Hilal asserted that the force will be part of the PA police structure, and will be directly responsible to the PA police command with no function other than supporting the PA police when needed. It should be mentioned that Abbas abolished Siyam's decree to establish the new force.
He noted that it was about time to end the security chaos in the PA lands once and for all.
The ministry's spokesman stressed that directives of Siyam were clear in using force against all outlawed gangs, especially criminals involved in robbery, grabbing of public lands, assaulting PA police headquarters and offices, storming public and private institutions, and kidnapping foreign nationals among other crimes.
