The escalation was characterized by several violent confrontations between the Executive Force, the Hamas paramilitary loyal to Haniyya, and Al-Qassam Brigades.
The competition for influence within Hamas between former Palestinian Authority prime minister Isma’il Haniyya and Hamas hard-line leader Mahmoud A-Zahhar has escalated to fierce armed confrontations in various areas in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The escalation was characterized by several violent confrontations between the Executive Force, the Hamas paramilitary loyal to Haniyya, and Al-Qassam Brigades, the powerful military wing controlled by A-Zahhar. According to eyewitness reports, several armed men were wounded, including an Al-Qassam leader, during a fierce gun battle last night between the Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Tension escalated after Haniyya expressed his readiness to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas for a resumption of talks. Haniyya’s offer for recommencement of dialogue was made in a phone call last week to Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz. During the conversation, Haniya also reiterated his commitment to national unity and dialogue with Fatah and expressed readiness to meet ‘Abbas for another round of talks under Saudi auspices in Mecca. The call for talks with Fatah elicited a violent reaction from A-Zahhar, who accused Haniyya of trying to undermine the group’s Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip. Considered the mastermind of the Gaza offensive that routed Fatah rival last June, A-Zahhar maintains strong relations with Hamas’ external leadership led by Damascus-based Khalid Mash’al. Since the Gaza takeover, Haniyya, who has developed a reputation for being a moderate, has repeatedly called for the resumption of dialogue with Fatah as the only way out of the crisis that has spilt Gaza into two separate entities. The violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip caused the severing of its relations with Fatah and most Arab neighbors which backed ‘Abbas. ‘Abbas has rebuffed offers by the Islamic movement to resume contacts, saying the group must first apologize and withdraw its forces from Palestinian security posts in Gaza. As a sign of the growing Arab isolation of Hamas, news reports revealed that both Saudi Arabia and Egypt have refused to receive Mash’al, who has asked for meetings with officials there.
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