GAZA CITY — The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority has targeted the
leading Fatah-aligned security agency in the war between the two rival
Palestinian factions.
Palestinian sources said Hamas leaders have identified the PA Preventive
Security Apparatus as the leading obstacle to their takeover of the Gaza
Strip. The sources said the PSA remains a powerful force in northern Gaza.
"The Hamas method is methodical and based on eliminating senior PSA
officers, particularly in the north," a Palestinian security source said.
"Without a leadership, the PSA could be neutralized."
[On Saturday, three Hamas members were killed in a clash between two
major clans in Gaza City. Palestinian sources said the clan battle was
joined by PA security officers, Middle East Newsline reported.]
The source said the Hamas strategy was drafted by PA Foreign
Minister Mahmoud Zahar and his brother, Yusef, the commander of the Interior
Ministry's new Executive Force. The Palestinian source said Interior
Minister Said Siyam has been responsible for logistics and weapons for the
6,000-member Executive Force.
On Jan. 6, Hamas said it would double the Executive Force to 12,000
officers. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has deemed the Executive Force illegal.
Over the last week, Hamas has killed two senior officers of the PSA.
They consisted of Col. Mohammed Gharib, the PSA commander of the northern
district as well as his son, Wael, also identified as a senior officer.
The colonel was killed in a day-long battle at his home in Jabalya on
Jan. 4. His two daughters, wife and brother were also killed by the
Executive Force, which employed rocket-propelled grenades.
"They are killers," Gharib said in a last-minute appeal to PA
television. "They are targeting the house; children are dying; they are
bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance. We want an ambulance. Somebody
move."
But PSA and other Fatah-aligned forces were unable to reach Gharib's
home. The sources said the Executive Force blocked roads from Gaza City to
the north.
The sources said PSA has been the most effective Fatah-aligned force in
the war in the Gaza Strip. They said Abbas's Presidential Guards, which
contains about 3,700 officers, has been largely passive.
On Jan. 4, the Executive Force attacked the headquarters of the
Presidential Guards in Al Twam in the northern Gaza Strip. There were no
reports of casualties.
Another Hamas target has been Sufian Abu Zeida, a senior Fatah official
who is close to Israel and the United States. Abu Zeida's home was attacked
by RPG fire on Jan. 4, but neither he nor his family was present.
The Palestinian sources said Hamas intends to destroy the PSA command in
an attempt to undermine the 5,500-member force. The sources said the PSA has
been the only Fatah unit that has fought Hamas.
"This campaign will take months, but Hamas is patient and disciplined,"
another security source said.
