by The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff
Hamas accuses Fatah of ordering supporters to carry out several bombings in Gaza over the weekend • Fatah says Hamas trying to distract from its failure in governing Gaza • Both sides have recently carried out sweeping arrests against the other.
The good old days. Ismail
Haniyeh of Hamas and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza in 2007
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Photo credit: Reuters  |
Rivals Hamas and Fatah have traded some of the
harshest accusations in months, raising fresh doubt about their ability
to work together to rebuild areas of the Gaza Strip destroyed in last
year's Israel-Hamas war.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, claimed over the
weekend that the Fatah-run government in the West Bank ordered
supporters to carry out several bombings in Gaza to create chaos. Hamas
released videos purportedly showing confessions of three men involved in
the alleged plot.
Gaza Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Bozum
also claimed that Fatah ordered supporters in Gaza to relay information
about Hamas' military infrastructure.
On Sunday, Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for
Fatah-loyal forces in the West Bank, dismissed the purported confession
videos as forgeries. He said Hamas is making such claims to distract
from its failure in governing Gaza.
Last week, Palestinian security forces
arrested several dozen Hamas supporters in the West Bank. The sweep came
several days after Hamas detained several Fatah activists in Gaza.
The rival factions are meant to be setting
aside their differences for the sake of rebuilding Gaza. The current
plan calls for a Hamas-backed technocrat government headed by Fatah's
leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
This unity government was to replace the rule
of Hamas, which had seized Gaza in 2007, but the two sides have failed
to make the agreement work. The political paralysis is seen as a major
reason for the slow reconstruction pace.
According to U.N. figures, about 18,000 Gaza
homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and thousands more suffered
lesser damage in 50 days of fighting.
A border blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt,
in place to varying degrees since 2007, has also hampered
reconstruction. Israel has restricted the import of building material,
amid concerns Hamas would divert it for military use.
Since the Gaza war, Israel has eased those
restrictions under a U.N.-brokered deal. The office of the Israeli
military dealing with Gaza affairs said Sunday that more than 91,000
tons of construction materials have entered the territory since October.
Gisha, an Israeli advocacy group, said Gaza needs about 5 million tons of building materials.
The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=24191
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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