Israeli helicopters fired four missiles at a car in Gaza City on Monday afternoon, killing two Hamas members. More than 25 people were wounded.
Sources in the Gaza Strip told Al Bawaba that the targets of the attack were members of Hamas military wing, identified as Khader al Hasri and Munthir Qneita. A third activist, identified as Hassan al Harsh was wounded. The attack took place near the government complex in Gaza City.
In the past two weeks, Israel has killed 10 Hamas members and three bystanders in five such attacks.
In the city of Nablus, hundreds of students threw stones at Israeli tanks and jeeps in several locations. Troops fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowds, witnesses said, according to the AP.
A Palestinian threw a firebomb at a tank near the main square, where scores of stone-throwers were assembled. The top of the tank caught fire, said Palestinian rescue worker Ala Aratrut, who saw the incident. "A soldier from inside the tank began shooting randomly. The top of the tank was going round while the shooting went on," said Aratrut, a witness.
A teenager fell to the ground after being shot in the head, the rescue worker said. Doctors said the boy, age 15, was in critical condition.
Arafat-Abbas
Meanwhile, a power struggle between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, is intensifying, with fights over key appointments and control of security forces.
On their part, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) are denying heavy American pressure lobbying them against introducing a no-confidence vote against Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen’s) government. They have also said that they are reviewing several proposals for resolving the growing conflict between Abu Mazen and Arafat. The MPs also added that the issue of a no-confidence motion has not been put on the agenda of the PLC meeting, which was supposed to be held Monday.
Reports have indicated that the PLC session, which was initially set for Monday, had been postponed until next Thursday following US pressure on its members, who were lobbying for a no-confidence vote against Abu Mazen’s government.
According to the reports, American officials have told Palestinian legislators that should the council vote against Abu Mazen’s government; the US will withdraw its support for the ‘roadmap’ - which proposes the establishment of a Palestinian state by the year 2005.
The chief of the PLC monitoring committee, Hasan Khraishah, denied to Al Bawaba that any such pressure existed, although he did not rule out the possibility that the PLC speaker - Ahmed Quraie (Abu A’ala) - might have been pressed by the Americans.
“We did not feel such pressure, and I - as a representative of a parliamentary bloc at the PLC (the National Coalition Party) - can say that nobody has approached us in this respect,” said Khraishah. However, the Palestinian MP added, “the PLC speaker may have faced such pressures.” He also pointed out that the no-confidence motion would not be raised at the forthcoming session.
“The issue of no-confidence will not be raised at the PLC’s upcoming session. It will just be a session of dialogue, after which we will submit a request to hold another one to discuss our confidence in Abu Mazen’s government,” added Khraishah.
As far as the Arafat-Abu Mazen conflict is concerned, Khraishah described it as a personal one, indicating that it should be resolved within the PLC’s framework.
“The differences between the two - Arafat and Abu Mazen - are personal as there is no political dispute between them…it is just a personal disagreement as both of them want to consolidate their own authority,” said the head of the PLC monitoring committee. He also hints that the apparent power struggle between the two has started to have its consequences on the Palestinians; suggesting that there should be a mediator to bring the two sides together.
“This dispute should be resolved at the PLC - a legitimate and elected authority that can identify and mend the differences between the two sides,” said Khraishah.
Arafat, who unwillingly appointed Abu Mazen as Prime Minster last April in response to international pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority, has been fighting a battle with his Premier over authority of the Palestinian security apparatus. The new dispute between the two is now regarding the appointment of an interior minister, whom Abu Mazen is insisting should be responsible for the Palestinian security apparatus. Meanwhile, Arafat is refusing to hand over to any new interior minister the responsibility of the general intelligence and the national security apparatus - which Arafat oversees directly.
According to observers, Arafat – with his 85 loyal representatives from Fatah on the PLC - is seeking to remove Abu Mazen through the legislative council. This, observers say, will enable Arafat to sideline a perceived threat to his status.
In this context, Khraishah reiterates that “the differences with Abu Mazen have become a matter of survival for Arafat rather than a political dispute.”
He says, “Arafat has always extracted his power and influence from either money or security forces. The financial issue has now been taken away from him and given to the Minister of Finance - Salam Fayyad. The issue which is now being disputed is over responsibility of the security apparatus…and so if Arafat looses that he will loose most of the power he has left.”
However, Khraishah reaffirms that “the only entity that can resolve the dispute between both sides is the PLC – an elected body that represents the Palestinian people.”
For his part, PLC member and former minister - Emad al Falouji – also denied that the postponement of the PLC’s Monday session had anything to do with American pressure. He suggests that the postponement may have been due to technical reasons, as Israel bans Gaza-based representatives from traveling to Ramallah where the PLC has its headquarters.
“As a PLC member, I have not heard of any American pressure, except what is reported in the media…and I do not think that deferring the session until next Thursday was due to any local or foreign pressure,” said Falouji. He added, “There have been leaks from the US embassy and some American officials about a no-confidence motion against the [present] government...these leaks just cause confusion among the Palestinians.”
Falouji claims “the upcoming session was scheduled to hear a report by the Prime Minster. As far as the issue of no-confidence is concerned, the matter is not at all on the agenda at the moment.”
“We will discuss the performance of the [present] government without getting entangled in the Arafat- Abu Mazen dispute. Abu Mazen is an appointed Prime Minister who can be removed by Arafat without cause, as he was the one that appointed the Prime Minister and is the only one that has the authority to remove him.”
“We, as a group of parliamentarians, always try to serve as a bridge between Arafat and Abu Mazen in order to overcome any crisis between the two…but these are personal initiatives rather than institutional ones that stem from our personal ties with both Arafat and Abu Mazen,” said Falouji.
He asserted that “there should be no dispute between the two leaders at a time when Israeli tanks are imposing a siege around our cities, and their fighter jets are assassinating Palestinians and shedding their blood.”
When asked about the question of a no-confidence motion against Abu Mazen’s government, Falouji concluded, “It is too early to talk about this issue as we should wait until the PLC session is held next Thursday. Following the session, we will decide whether something that drastic is required…in either case, the PLC will be the ultimate decision maker and not foreign pressure (referring to the US).” (Albawaba.com)
