Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Hamas political leaders have expressed dismay over the transfer of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian sources said leaders of the Hamas regime were warning their superiors against the reconciliation agreement with the rival Fatah movement.

The leaders expressed opposition to the dismantling of the Islamist regime and the return of the PA to the Gaza Strip.

“The movement will regret this because it will once more return Gaza to
corruption and chaos,” a source said.

On June 4, a leading Arab daily reported a feud within the Hamas leadership in wake of the reconciliation deal with Fatah. The London-based Al Quds Al Arabi quoted a senior Hamas official as accusing the leadership of surrendering to Fatah, which has controlled most of the West Bank since 1994.

“It handed the Gaza Strip to Fatah,” the unidentified Hamas official said.

[On June 5, Palestinian civil servants in the Gaza Strip battled at
banks when they didn’t receive their monthly salaries. Hamas civil servants
failed to receive their salaries and attacked PA employees.]

Al Quds Al Arabi said the feud within Hamas divided the political
leadership in the Gaza Strip. The newspaper said the split was also seen
within the Hamas Shura Council, most of whose members live in Qatar.

“We leave the government but stay in power,” outgoing Hamas Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh said. “We give up the chair but not the role we
play.”

Hamas’ military has stressed that it would not become part of the PA
security forces. A spokesman for Hamas’ Izzedin Kassam military wing, Abu
Obeida, said the force, which continues to arrest Fatah operatives, was not
subject to restrictions.

“We are a military institution with national goals,” Abu Obeida said.

  Dissent in Hamas over return of Gaza to Palestinian Authority, Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, Izzedin Kassam, Mahmoud Abbas