RAMALLAH — Senior officials here have concluded the
Palestinian Authority was on the verge of collapse.
The officials said the PA has become leaderless, with chairman Mahmoud
Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at cross-purposes and without
authority. They said the PA leadership was bracing for a collapse of the
security and banking system.
PA employees have not been paid since June, officials said. On Thursday,
thousands of people began protests throughout the Gaza Strip, with a general
strike planned for next week, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The lack of order in the Gaza Strip has gone from bad to worse, with
the PA out of control," a senior official said. "The only aim of the PA
leadership is to obtain international aid, particularly for the security
forces."
In late August, Abbas agreed to pay 5,000 members of the Interior
Ministry's new security force. The force, paid through the transfer of $89
million by the European Union, was the Hamas-led Special Operations Force,
established in April and a rival of Fatah-aligned security agencies.
Abbas has been negotiating with Haniyeh for the establishment of a
national unity government to facilitate the renewal of Western aid. But the
talks have been hampered
over a dispute on power-sharing and a refusal by Palestinian groups to halt
missile attacks against Israel.
"President Abbas will not discuss the formation of a unity government
before he reaches a political agreement with Hamas," Azzam Al Ahmad, head of
Fatah's bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said.
Officials said Abbas also suspended plans to deploy hundreds of PA
forces in the northern Gaza Strip. They said Fatah and Hamas, claiming the
deployment was meant to protect Israel, had threatened to attack PA troops.
After a week-long lull, Palestinian gunners resumed missile fire against
Israel. On Friday, gunners fired Kassam-class, short-range missiles from the
northern Gaza Strip into Israel. There were no reports of injuries.
Officials said PA intelligence has become less effective and was no
longer capable of monitoring the Gaza Strip. They said PA officers were
believed to be cooperating with organized crime and insurgency groups in
numerous killings and abductions.
On Thursday, Palestinian insurgents in the southern Gaza Strip bombed
the border wall with Egypt. The insurgents have sought to facilitate the
flow of operatives and weapons amid the closure of the Rafah border
crossing. On Friday, Israel allowed the reopening of the Rafah terminal to
allow Palestinians stranded in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to return to the Gaza
Strip.
"The security chaos crisis is a general problem and is the result of a
lack of respect for the rule of law," PA Attorney General Ahmed Al Mughni
said.
