Wednesday 6 October 2010

Hamas Warns PA over West Bank Arrests: Silence Won’t Last Long

06/10/2010 The armed wing of the Hamas resistance group and its allies said on Wednesday they would retaliate against the Palestinian Authority if it continued to take action against their members in the occupied West Bank.

"We say today that our silence will not last long. If those (security) services pursue their aggression, we will end the silence," said Abu Ubaida, spokesman of the Hamas armed wing in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Ubaida of Hamas's Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades was referring to a PA crackdown on Hamas activists including the sentencing this week of a Hamas fighter to 20 years in prison. But a PA spokesman said Alaa Abu Dhiyab, sentenced by a military court, was involved in the killing of three Palestinian officers in a shootout in the West Bank in 2009.

Hamas says around 750 of its activists have been arrested by PA security forces since Hamas fighters killed 4 Zionist settlers in the West Bank on August 31 - the eve of the launch of direct Middle East peace talks.

Abu Ubaida's statement came less than two weeks after Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction agreed to revive efforts to narrow a schism between the two groups that has undermined the Palestinian cause. If these reconciliation talks failed to ease the crackdown on Hamas, Abu Ubaida said "no one should blame us if we pursue the symbols of the Fatah authority wherever they exist."

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal met a senior Fatah official in Syria last month and further talks between the two sides are expected on Oct 20.
(Reuters)

Armed wings of factions slam PA military trials against resistance fighters

[ 06/10/2010 - 09:55 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The armed wings of the opposition resistance factions strongly denounced the Palestinian Authority's security cooperation with the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and the military trials held against resistance fighters in the West Bank.

In a news conference held in Gaza Tuesday evening, the armed wings called on all Palestinian factions to take a strong position against what is happening in the West Bank before talking about the reconciliation efforts.

They stated that they welcome the national reconciliation if it was based on protecting the constants and the resistance option.

They also urged the West Bank people and their resistance fighters to repel arrest attempts and take up arms against the Israeli occupation and its lackeys.

For its part, Al-Ahrar Movement deplored the harsh imprisonment sentences issued by the PA military courts against resistance fighters, their families and supporters and also criticized the PA for intervening many times to save Israel from international condemnation.

The Movement on Tuesday said that the escalating political arrests and trials taking place in the West Bank are against the Palestinian people's interests and further vindicate that the PA has never been serious about ending the inter-Palestinian division.

In a related incident, a PA military court in Ramallah city sentenced prisoner Sharif Ghanem to two years in prison, although an earlier court decision ordered his release.

Ghanem is an ex-detainee in Israeli jails and was kidnapped one year ago by the PA intelligence apparatus. At the time, the PA security militias raided and ransacked his home and the café he owns and confiscated a large sum of money.

The militias also kidnapped a number of his brothers, interrogated and tortured them. He, as well, was transferred to hospital many times because of torture.

Many imprisonment sentences had been issued by PA military courts against Hamas members and supporters in the West Bank during the past few days.

The Islamic Jihad Movement, for its part, said in a statement Tuesday that the arrest and harassment of Islamic and national figures in the West Bank are aimed at eliminating their influence on the Palestinian street and thus prevent the occurrence of another intifada (uprising) or any resistance activities against the Israeli occupation.

It held the PA and the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives of its cadres imprisoned in their jails.

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