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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas infiltrated PA security forces, recruited officers as spies — report

2019-04-24

[IsraelTimes] Gazoo-based terror group managed to turn agents in sensitive units, including the preventative force that works alongside Israel to thwart Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", activity in West Bank. Hamas has managed to recruit members of the Paleostinian Authority’s security forces into the terrorist group over the past year, including some in sensitive units that work alongside Israel to thwart Hamas terror activity in the West Bank, according to a newspaper report on Tuesday. The Paleostinian Authority’s intelligence agents caught wind of the breach, launching a covert crackdown on the Hamas spies several months ago that saw several security officers tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! after confessing to working for the terror group, according to Yedioth Ahronoth, which cited Paleostinian sources. The report said Paleostinian security officers were reeled in to work for Hamas either through bribes and financial incentives, or through the jailing of their relatives in Gazoo. Leaders of Hamas in Gazoo and abroad oversaw the recruitment of the PA security officers, the report said. The officers were asked to convey sensitive intelligence to the Gazoo leaders on PA security operations, including against Hamas cells in the West Bank. Some were told to plant false information to mislead the PA forces. Hamas managed to infiltrate various units, including the Preventative Security Service that works with Israel to foil terror attacks (and is the equivalent to the Shin Bet security service in Israel), intelligence, and the Paleostinian police, among others, the report said. The PA has largely thwarted the infiltration after jailing suspects who admitted they were serving Hamas, the report said, and PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... was updated throughout on the secret investigation. But concerns linger that other Paleostinian security officers, who recently have received only 50 percent of their monthly salaries amid a budget crunch, could easily be enticed to work for Hamas for the money. In response, PA security forces front man Adnan Damiri appeared to pour cold water on the report, telling the Wafa news site that: "There are two persons from the security services who were placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! two years ago on suspicion of leaking information to Hamas," Damiri said. "Statements like the ones the Hebrew press is launching against the security services raise some doubts for us about who is behind them."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF arrests PA gunman’s brother, revokes family’s work permits

2016-11-02

[IsraelTimes] Small-scale festivities break out in Qabatiya during raid on home of Paleostinian policeman who shot Israeli soldiers on Monday The brother of a Paleostinian security services officer who shot at a group of Israeli soldiers, wounding three, at a checkpoint outside Ramallah Monday, was tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! in the northern West Bank as part of a series of early-morning raids Tuesday, the army said. In addition, Israeli soldiers revoked the work permits belonging to family members of the gunman, Muhammad Turkman, at the family’s home in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, the Israel Defense Forces said. On Monday evening, Turkman approached the Focus checkpoint, near Ramallah, and opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at the troops stationed there. One soldier was seriously maimed in the attack -- his condition was later upgraded to "moderate" -- while two others sustained light injuries from shrapnel, according to medical authorities. In Turkman’s home village of Qabatiya, small-scale festivities broke out between local residents and Israeli forces during the early Tuesday morning raid to arrest the gunman’s brother, who was identified by official Paleostinian Authority media as Muhannad Turkman, 23. Photos of the scene, posted on social media, showed rocks and cinderblocks scattered along the road in the Paleostinian village, as well as a fire raging in the middle of the street. According to an army spokesperson, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the troops, although she said that type of clash was "not out of the ordinary." There were no serious injuries reported on either side. A larger skirmish also broke out in the Deheisheh refugee camp, near Bethlehem, between local residents and a joint IDF-Border Police contingent on Monday night, with approximately 30 Paleostinians throwing rocks and improvised bombs at the troops, the army said. The Israeli force responded with non-lethal riot dispersal means, including flash-bang grenades, an IDF spokesperson said. There, too, no serious injuries were reported. In the West Bank village of Deir Ballut, east of Petah Tikva, IDF soldiers also arrested a Paleostinian suspected of having defaced and damaged the security fence separating Israel from the West Bank, the army said. During a raid in Talfit, southeast of Nablus, Israeli forces arrested three alleged members of the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror group, the IDF said. Another five Paleostinians -- one from Dura, near Hebron, and four from Tubas, in the northeastern West Bank -- were arrested for allegedly throwing rocks or taking part in violent protests, according to the army. PA forces raided home of Palestinian cop before attack, father says [IsraelTimes] Unclear if move was meant to prevent attack, or prompted Turkman’s shooting of IDF soldiers; cop’s brother was Al Aqsa Marty’s brigade member killed in 2011 Paleostinian security Monday night raided the family home of a Paleostinian police officer hours before he opened fire on IDF soldiers in the West Bank, according to testimony from the attacker’s father. Muhammad Turkman, 25, maimed three soldiers with an AK-47 assault rifle on Tuesday at the Focus checkpoint, near Ramallah. Hours earlier, security forces burst into his family’s home in the West Bank village of Qabatiya, near Jenin, and confiscated weapons, Turkman’s parents told the Paleostinian news site Quds Net on Tuesday. However, ars longa, vita brevis... it is not clear if security forces raided the home to prevent an attack, or if the raid itself prompted Turkman to carry out the shooting. In a separate interview with the Arab Israeli radio station A-shams, Turkman’s father, Abdul Khaleq, said his mother had called their son after the raid, and suggested this prompted him to carry out the attack. "His mother told Muhammad what happened, and it seems it angered him greatly. He had his personal weapon on him issued by the security forces. We don’t know what his reaction was," the father said. Muhammad is the second son from the Turkman family to be killed in recent years. His brother Rabia, who was a member of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, was killed in 2011 as a result of festivities with the IDF in Ramallah, Quds Net reported. An unnamed source told the pro-Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", outlet Palinfo that an AK-47, a homemade cartridge and ammunition were confiscated from the Turkman home during the raid. According to a senior Paleostinian security source, Turkman was a guard at the Paleostinian parliament. After his shift, he took a gun without permission and carried out the attack, Israel Radio reported on Monday. Adnan Damiri, the spokesperson for the Paleostinian Security Forces, told Israel Radio on Tuesday his side still had "nothing" in their own investigation into the shooting. He added that the IDF does not do joint-investigations with the PA security forces, even when PA police are suspects.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Dozens Hurt as Palestinian Police Clashes with West Bank Youths

2014-01-13

[An Nahar] Paleostinian police clashed Sunday with West Bank youths who were protesting against a U.N. strike that has paralyzed services in refugee camps leaving dozens maimed, sources said. United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... Relief and Works Agency employees have been on strike for more than a month, forcing cash-strapped UNRWA to shut schools and stop collecting garbage from West Bank refugee camps. Paleostinian police fired tear gas and live ammunition in the air to prevent youths from the Jalazun refugee camp in the central West Bank from blocking the road between Ramallah and Bir Zeit, an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent said, adding that many were maimed. Paleostinian security services front man Adnan Damiri told AFP that 40 coppers were maimed in the festivities, including 22 who had to be hospitalized. Director of Jalazun camp Jumaa Shaaban told AFP the "protest was organized by popular committees from all the camps" and that demonstrations also took place in other West Bank camps.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinian Protests Expected During Obama Visit

2013-03-15

[Ynet] Paleostinian officials' expectations of presidential visit relatively low; president's tour of Ramallah to be met with protest involving black flags US President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... 's upcoming visit to Israel and the Paleostinian Authority is not inspiring high hopes for a resumption of peace talks among Paleostinian leaders. Chief Paleostinian negotiator Saeb Erekat ...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state... on Thursday led a group of Western diplomats in a tour of Jerusalem's Givat Hamatos neighborhood and Beit Safafa, stressing that Israeli construction in these areas as well as in Ramat Shlomo and Area E1 will terminate the two-state solution. Low expectations notwithstanding, Erekat said that the visit is important in that it reflects American involvement in the Paleostinian issue. He added that the Paleostinian Authority continues to demand the release of Paleostinian prisoners held by Israel who were tried prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Paleostinian Authority's ministry of prisoners' affairs has asked the US to arrange a meeting between Obama and a family whose son is held in an Israeli jail, but has yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed his guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... a group named "Paleostinians for Dignity" who is opposed to normalizing relations with Israel is seeking authorization from the PA to protest in Ramallah during Obama's visit. The group wishes to protest what they call a US bias towards Israel. The group is planning on waving black flags and sending thousands of black balloons into the air when the president enters Ramallah. Adnan Damiri, a front man of the Paleostinian security apparatus, said that such protests are protected under freedom of speech and that they are authorized as long as there is no violence. 3-G protest On Wednesday, Ramallah's main streets became filled with posters calling on Obama to leave his smartphone at home when visiting Ramallah seeing as Israel prevents the PA from utilizing the third-generation (3-G) cellular technology. On Thursday, unknown vandals marked an "X" over Obama's posters. Paleostinian elements opposed to the visit endorsed the protest claiming that the cellular issue is minor in comparison to the more pressing issues such as prisoners, settlements and US military support of Israel.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinian Authorities Discover Hamas Dungeon In West Bank

2012-09-24

Paleostinian security forces have uncovered a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, underground detention facility in the West Bank village of Urif, police chief Adnan Damiri said. The dungeon was equipped with communication equipment. "Hamas is building these facilities, but we don't know for what purpose," the top Paleostinian official said, noting that several suspects have been tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! in connection with the case. Much more detail from Ma'an here.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Angry Protests, Transport Strike Grip West Bank

2012-09-11

[An Nahar] Some 2,000 Paleostinians angry at the rising cost of living flooded the streets of Hebron on Monday, as a general strike halted public transport across the West Bank. Clouds of black smoke poured into the air across the Israeli-occupied territory as furious demonstrators set light to tires, kicking off a second week of protests against the spiraling cost of living, high petrol prices and unemployment. In the southern city of Hebron, demonstrators erupted into the streets in the early morning, blocking main roads with boulders and burning tires, which later degenerated into mass stone throwing at cars and the municipal building, an AFP correspondent reported. They also hurled stones at Paleostinian police and Israeli troops in the area. "We demand that President (Mahmoud) Abbas and Prime Minister (Salam) Fayyad resign and all of the Paleostinian Authority because they have been unable to carry out their political and economic duties," said 28-year-old Hebron resident Khaled Idriss told AFP. Another man had come to protest with his donkey -- the only form of affordable transport following the petrol price hikes. "I didn't come alone, I came with my donkey to show I am protesting against the rise in (petrol) prices," said 32-year-old Fawaz al-Ragabi. Public transport was at a complete halt throughout the West Bank as union bosses called a mass strike over the rising cost of petrol which has risen from six to eight shekels per liter in the past two months (from $1.50 to $2.00/1.18 to 1.57 euros). With no buses, minibuses or taxis in operation, the streets were empty, and private cars were also barred from entering towns and cities by makeshift roadblocks. At the Qalandia crossing between Ramallah and Jerusalem, small groups of bus and taxi drivers were on the lookout for any strike breakers. "People need to appreciate what we are doing and they should support us because you shouldn't be paying seven shekels ($1.8/1.4 euros) to get here from Ramallah," one driver told AFP, without giving his name, saying the current price of 3.5 shekels was set to double. So far, the police have looked on passively as thousands of demonstrators have protested over the past week, with front man Adnan Damiri saying they were not planning to intervene unless things got out of hand. "We completely understand these protests, the president and the leadership's instructions were clear and affirmed the peaceful nature of these protests," he told AFP. "We are not interested in clashing with the people because we don't want to complicate things, but at the same time we are seeking to maintain the peace." However the protests triggered sharp criticism of the Ramallah-based Paleostinian Authority from the rival Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rulers of the Gazoo Strip, with front man Fawzi Barhum saying they were a "natural reaction" to its "political and economic failure". "Abu Mazen (Abbas) has to respond quickly to the fair demands of the protesters and make them a priority, because responding to their daily needs is an act of nationalism," he told AFP.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinians detain dozens in weapons crackdown

2012-07-03

Some 200 jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! throughout West Bank during raids conducted in response to high-profile vigilante shootings. Jenin governor: Rules have changed Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has launched his broadest weapons crackdown in years, for the first time confronting his own loyalists, including rogue security officers and gunnies linked to his Fatah movement.   The arrest raids conducted in recent weeks are a response to high-profile vigilante shootings that threatened to undermine law-and-order successes, seen as key to Paleostinian statehood claims. Some 200 people were jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! and dozens of guns seized in recent weeks, many in the northern West Bank district of Jenin, Paleostinian police said Monday.   Just under half the detainees were released after surrendering their weapons, while others remain in jug on suspicion of weapons dealing, extortion and shooting attacks, said police front man Adnan Damiri.   Until the crackdown, Abbas had largely avoided taking on gunnies with ties to Fatah, apparently fearing a political backlash and unrest in the ranks. The recent shootings, including a May attack on the house of the Jenin district governor, who later died of a heart attack, seem to have left him no choice.   Among those tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... were several gangs involved in illegal weapons trading and extortion, as well as those who attacked the house of the Jenin governor. The Paleostinian officials have linked the deadly heart attack to the shooting, seen as the main trigger for the security crackdown.   At the same time, Paleostinian human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups have criticized Abbas for curtailing basic freedoms in the West Bank under the guise of security.   Over the weekend, his security forces violently dispersed two protests against Abbas' security coordination with Israel and a planned meeting with Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz. The meeting was later postponed. To the international community, the Jenin area, a former terrorist stronghold, had become a symbol of Abbas' ability to assert control successfully. The recent violence has threatened to spoil that perception.   The situation "reached a level where it was hurting the faction (Fatah) and the reputation of the security forces, and the president decided to intervene," said Azmi Shuaibi, an independent Paleostinian politician.   Senior Fatah officials did not criticize the crackdown publicly, though local leaders in the Jenin district argued that disarming Fatah loyalists will leave them vulnerable in case of renewed festivities with the movement's main political rival, the Islamic Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror organization. Five years ago, Hamas and Fatah fought a brief civil war in the Gazoo Strip, ending with a Hamas takeover of Gazoo that left Abbas with only the West Bank.   Even Fatah politician Shami al-Shami, who was shot and maimed in an ambush outside his home in the Jenin refugee camp over the weekend, opposes a large-scale weapons roundup, saying only troublemakers should be targeted.   "If the Paleostinian Authority takes my weapon from me, and tomorrow the Authority cannot protect me, Hamas people will come and attack me," said al-Shami, his maimed right leg propped up on a pillow as he received well-wishers in his brother's living room.   There were no suspects in the attack on al-Shami, a former Paleostinian security official, said the new district governor, Talal Dweikat.   The Jenin district is the largest contiguous area under Paleostinian self-rule. Israel retains overall control of the West Bank, an area it captured in 1967, along with the Gazoo Strip and east Jerusalem. Paleostinians have limited autonomy in 38% of the West Bank.   Since the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gazoo, Abbas has gradually asserted control in the self-rule areas, clamping down on Hamas while trying to co-opt Fatah-linked gunnies who had fought Israeli troops during a Paleostinian uprising a decade ago.   Some of the armed Fatah loyalists were given security jobs, while others were persuaded to disband their squads.   The performance of Abbas' security forces, key to buttressing Paleostinian claims for independence, has won Israeli praise in recent years. At the same time, Paleostinian officials complain that Israeli restrictions on the movement of the Paleostinian security forces and frequent Israeli army incursions into self-rule areas hamper their efforts.   In Jenin, the equilibrium seemed to hold for a while, but several shootings attracted new attention to the once troubled district.   In April 2011, a masked gunman shot and killed well-known Israeli actor Juliano Mer Khamis, son of a Jewish mother and a Paleostinian father, who had founded a community theater in the Jenin camp to provide a means of peaceful protest against Israeli occupation. In a brazen daytime attack, the killer stopped the actor's car near the theater, fired several shots and escaped.   A "no weapons allowed" sign still marks the entrance to the Freedom Theater, but the admonition clearly never applied to the rest of the Jenin camp, the epicenter of what Damiri said was the most extensive weapons crackdown since 2007.   Among the high-profile detainees is Zakarya Zubeidi, the most famous gunman in the Jenin camp. Zubeidi was tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... after the attack on the governor, though security officials would not say if he was a suspect.   Dweikat, the new governor, said rules have changed in his district.   "Those who enter the circle of chaos" will not be able to hide behind their rank or political affiliation, he said.

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Arabia

Mabhouh suspects include Fatah men: Hamas

2010-02-20

I love it when they eat their own ... Tomorrow's headline: Mabhouh Suspects include Hamas men: Fatah No, no. That was yesterday's headline. Tomorrow's headline sez it was Amy Bishop what dunnit. RAMALLAH -- Hamas claimed Friday that two ex-officers from the rival Fatah organization were involved in the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, and Fatah shot back by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who collaborated with the killers. The slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month has widely been blamed on Israels Mossad spy agency but it also has sparked bitter recriminations among the rival Palestinian factions, which have long competed for influence in the Palestinian territories. Dubai police unveiled 11 suspects -- 10 men and one woman -- who apparently traveled to Dubai on European passports with real names and authentic data, but possibly altered photos. A Hamas Web site, the Palestine Information Center, said those two men were former Fatah security officers and current employees of a senior Fatah official, who was not identified. Dubai authorities have not identified the two Palestinians and would not comment Friday. Hamas stopped short of accusing Fatah of collaborating with the Mossad, however. Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas leadership courageously hiding in Damascus, told The Associated Press on Friday that Hamas is "not accusing any party" other than Israel, though he said the agents might have used "small collaborators for logistic issues." The Hamas Web site identifies the two men as Anwar Shheibar and Ahmad Hassanain. It says they served in Fatahs security services in Gaza, fled the territory in 2006, and currently work for a construction company owned by a high-ranking Fatah official, Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan denied any connection to the men or to the killing. "I dont have any companies in Dubai and I dont know these people," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Amman, Jordan. "Only Hamas knew he (al-Mabhouh) was in Dubai, so its their fault, not the Palestinian Authoritys," he said. "For political reasons Hamas is blaming us for its own internal problems." A Fatah spokesman also denied the charge. "Hamas is trying by these accusations to cover up the security flaws in the first lines of its leadership," said Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for Palestinian security forces in the Fatah-ruled West Bank. "Hamas is the only one to know the movement of Al-Mabhouh, and from there the information went to the Israelis." Officials of the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah said the two men are former members of Fatah who later joined Hamas security forces in Gaza. They said the men were sent to Dubai on Hamas business last month but had no further details.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA police arrest 36 Hamas supporters

2009-06-12

[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Palestinian security forces arrested 36 Hamas supporters, many of them professors and students, the Islamic group said Thursday, widening a crackdown by the Western-backed Palestinian president. The sweep is part of an apparent effort by Mahmoud Abbas to show he is fulfilling his commitments under the US-backed "road map" peace plan at a time when US President Barack Obama has been pushing both sides to make progress. The crackdown also comes as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prepares to give a key policy speech Sunday. Since the Hamas takeover, Abbas' forces have arrested hundreds of Hamas activists, shut down Hamas-affiliated institutions and tried to dry up the group's funding. In the last two weeks, a pair of deadly shootouts between security forces and Hamas gunmen resisting arrest in the West Bank town of Kalkilya left nine dead, including four police officers. The latest sweep, which began Wednesday, included 17 students from a United Nations-run teachers' institute, Hamas said. The latest sweep, which began Wednesday, included 17 students from a United Nations-run teachers' institute, Hamas said. Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri confirmed arrests were made, but did not say how many people were held. He denied the arrests were political, saying those rounded up were tied to crimes involving handling weapons and money for Hamas or "incitement against the Palestinian Authority." Political analyst Hani al-Masri said Abbas' focus on security serves to show Obama that he is serious about peace talks, while drawing attention away from internal Palestinian divisions. "Security is the only winning card in the hand of the Palestinian Authority now," he said. "Most of the arrests have nothing to do with security." According to Damiri, the Palestinian Authority is currently holding about 300 Hamas members. Hamas says the number is over 700.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Did a Palestinian try to assassinate a top Abbas aide?

2009-06-10

[Haaretz Defense] Palestinian security men shot and seriously wounded a driver they believed was going to ram the convoy of a senior aide to President Mahmoud Abbas, police and medics said on Tuesday. "A motorist tried to overtake the convoy of Mr Tayyeb Abel-Rahim, raising the suspicions of his bodyguards who shot at him," security forces spokesman Adnan Damiri said. Abel-Rahim is the secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority Presidency. "Mahmoud, we must strike a blow against the corrupt and oppressive Paleostinian regime! Who must we target?" "How about the secretary of the Paleopresidency?" "Good idea. I'll get the explosives." Asked if it was an accident or a deliberate threat, the spokesman said: "It is still under investigation." "What's he got in the car with him, Officer Friendly?" "Groceries." "Good shootin'." The incident in Ramallah, commercial capital of the West Bank where Abbas has his offices, underscored a rise in tension and violence between his Fatah movement and members of the rival Islamist group Hamas. "A curse on yer moustache!" "I spit on yer shoulders!" The official news agency Wafa said the man was "driving fast in an erratic manner" and ignored frantic police warnings to stop. [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!] "Halt or we'll shoot!" Bodyguards were forced to shoot at the wheels of the car "which resulted in the wounding of the motorist." "My tires! [CRASH!]" The convoy was clearly marked, police said. The aide to Abbas, traveling in an official black Mercedes Benz, was not injured. Hospital sources said the driver was hit three times and was in critical condition. Does that mean they weren't shooting at his tires? Perhaps they were shooting at his feets. The Palestinian Authority security service is concerned about possible assassination attempts against top officials following clashes in May and June in which 9 people died.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbasniks ambuscade Hamas hidey hole, kill top field commander

2009-06-01

Six people were killed on Sunday when forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raided a Hamas hideout, just days after he promised in Washington to fulfil his security commitments. The violence erupted when police encircled a house in the West Bank town of Qalqilya where a top Hamas field commander, Mohammad Samman, and his deputy Mohammad Yasin, had taken refuge, witnesses and security officials said. Both Hamas men and the homeowner died in the shootout, along with three policemen. Dozens of bullet holes in walls and furniture in the home attested to the ferocity of the fighting. It was the bloodiest internal Palestinian clash in the occupied West Bank since the Western-backed Abbas launched a security drive and revived peace talks with Israel in 2007 after breaking with Hamas over its takeover of the Gaza Strip. Samman and Yasin had ignored calls to surrender, witnesses said. Palestinian security forces spokesman Adnan Damiri said police had tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff. "Thousands of shots were fired at the security forces," Damiri said, adding that large quantities of explosives were discovered in the Hamas hideout. After the raid, Hamas threatened to call off Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks with Fatah that had been scheduled to resume in Cairo in July. Fawzhi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip said: "We in Hamas have come closer than ever to taking a decision to suspend our participation in the dialogue." A spokesman for Hamas's armed wing accused the Abbas-aligned forces of being "loyal to the Zionists" and alleged he was directly responsible for "the crime and its consequences." Tedious drivel about the politix of it all at the link...

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA cop shoots Hamas lawmaker in Nablus

2009-04-22

[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Sheikh Hamed Bitawi, one of the prominent leaders of Hamas in the West Bank, was lightly wounded on Sunday when a Palestinian Authority security officer opened fire at him in Nablus. Hamas strongly condemned the attack as a failed assassination attempt, while the PA said that it was an "isolated" incident and that the assailant had been arrested. The attack took place only a day after the PA accused Hamas militiamen in the Gaza Strip of shooting three Fatah members in the legs. The shooter was identified as Nu'man Amer, an officer with the PA's much-feared Preventative Security Service. Bitawi, who represents Hamas's Change and Reform List in the Palestinian Legislative Council, was hit in the legs by shrapnel, eyewitnesses said. He was taken to Rafidyah Hospital, where doctors said he had been lightly wounded. Bitawi said the attack occurred as he and his son, Nasr, walked out of the Anbiya Mosque in the eastern sector of the city. "The man who shot me cursed me and Allah before opening fire from his pistol," he said in a phone interview from his hospital bed. "When my son asked him why he was shouting and cursing, the man, who is known as a security officer working for the Palestinian Authority, started cursing him too." According to Bitawi, 65, the assailant also threatened to shoot him if he ever saw him in the same area again. "Then my son told him, 'Why don't you go ahead and shoot?,'" he recalled. "His response was to draw his pistol and open fire toward my feet legs." Bitawi added that this was the second time in less than a year that he had been targeted by PA security personnel. In the previous incident, he said, PA policemen fired about 15 bullets at him and other worshipers in the same mosque. No one was hurt in that attack. Bitawi said that he filed a complaint with the PA back then, but no one was punished. "This is the security anarchy in the West Bank," he said. "What are [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas's security forces doing? They are responsible for the chaos." Hamas spokesmen said the attack was a "dangerous development" that would have a negative impact on efforts to end the Hamas-Fatah rift. Hamas also pledged Dire Revenge™ to retaliate against those responsible, but did not say what kind of action it was contemplating. "This is a very dangerous incident that would have grave repercussions on the dialogue [between Hamas and Fatah]," said Hamas legislator Fathi Hammad. "We are planning a series of protests because Sheikh Bitawi is also the chairman of the Palestinian Religious Scholars Council." Another Hamas legislator, Mushir al-Masri, held Abbas personally responsible for the "assassination attempt." He said that Abbas's security forces have been "running wild" in the West Bank, torching the offices of Hamas legislators, beating them and arresting them for no reason. Col. Adnan Damiri, spokesman for the PA security forces in the West Bank, said the attack was "personally motivated" and had no political background. He said that the assailant acted "on his own" and not on behalf of the security force where he serves. He said the officer would be formally charged with assault. The spokesman claimed that, contrary to Bitawi's claim, the officer opened fire into the air and not toward his legs.

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