Fatah leader Samir Mashrawi said Iran and Syria have been financing and
directing the Hamas operation, Middle East Newsline reported. In an interview with the London-based Al
Hayat daily on Wednesday, Mashrawi said Damascus and Teheran have sought to
establish a Hamas state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The sources said Hamas has relayed an ultimatum to Abbas. They said
Hamas would destroy Fatah unless Abbas halts U.S. and other military aid to
his forces, pledge to stop Fatah attacks on Hamas politicians, and grant the
Islamic movement majority representation in the PA and PLO.
Another demand, the sources said, was for Abbas to dismiss Fatah
security chief Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan controls the Preventive Security
Apparatus, regarded as the most effective Fatah-aligned force in the Gaza
Strip.
Dahlan has fled the Gaza Strip for Egypt while many of his aides have
been killed in Hamas attacks. His deputy, PSA commander Brig. Gen. Rashid
Abu Shback, has also left the Gaza Strip.
At this point, the sources said, Hamas plans to spare Abbas's office and
home in the Gaza Strip. But they said that unless Abbas agrees to the Hamas
ultimatum, the Islamic movement would destroy all Fatah and PA institutions
in the Gaza Strip.
"Fatah is running to the Arab League, the United States and even Israel
for salvation," the Hamas source said. "I assure you nobody will save Fatah
because they have been rejected by the Palestinian people."
Meanwhile, Israel has become resigned to the demise of Fatah in the
Gaza Strip.
Officials said Israel's military and government agree that the Jewish
state should not be involved in the Fatah-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. They
said foreign military aid to Fatah would not reverse Hamas gains in the Gaza
Strip.
"The chances are that any weapons provided by Egypt and Jordan to Fatah
would soon be seized by Hamas," an official said.
The military has determined that Hamas would succeed in capturing most or
all of the Gaza Strip. Officials said Hamas captured the northern and much
of the central Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours amid light Fatah
resistance.
Officials said the United States has urged Israel to allow Egypt and
Jordan to ship massive amounts of weapons and ammunition to forces loyal to
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. They said Israel has so far
rebuffed the offer, expressing concern that any weapons sent to the Gaza
Strip would be used against the Jewish state.
Egypt has also pressed Israel to allow a shipment of six trucks from the
United Arab Emirates to the Gaza Strip. The contents of the trucks, stuck at
the Rafah border terminal, were not clear. The UAE has supplied military
equipment to Abbas forces.
The Israeli Defense Ministry and General Staff have discussed a range of
options amid the Fatah-Hamas militia war. Officials said one option was for
Israel to invade the Gaza Strip and help Fatah destroy Hamas.
But officials said the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided
not to intervene. They said Israel's military would also not respond to
Palestinian missile attacks from the Gaza Strip.
"Fatah wants to drag us into the Gaza Strip and save them," the official
said. "We will not do it."
Instead, Olmert has urged international intervention in the Fatah-Hamas
war. The prime minister appealed to the European Union to establish a force
that would secure the 14-kilometer Egypt-Gaza border, the passage for
massive arms smuggling.
"Western countries need to act soon to alter the situation in the Gaza
Strip," Olmert said.
