GAZA CITY, 7 April 2006 — A decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to assume security control over the Gaza Strip’s border crossings was rejected yesterday by Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader. Abbas’ overnight move underscores tensions with Hamas in the wake of the group’s crushing win against the president’s long-dominant Fatah in January elections.
Officials close to Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said he had come under pressure from the European Union, which threatened to withdraw its monitors from the key Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in response to Hamas’ rise to power.
“The government does not accept the creation of parallel bodies that may take away its authority,” Haniyeh told Reuters at his house in the impoverished Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, adding he would meet Abbas to discuss the matter. “This is an elected government, not an appointed one. Brother Abu Mazen confirmed to me more than once that he will not touch the authority of the current government,” he added, sitting behind a picture of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, whom Israel assassinated in March 2004.
Abbas’ office issued a presidential decree late on Wednesday taking over the Gaza crossings. Analysts said the move could spark a political crisis, something some see as inevitable because of the clashing political agendas of the two sides.
Hamas seeks Israel’s destruction while Abbas and Fatah want a negotiated two-state solution to end conflict.
“There is a fear we may have two governments, justified by the challenge that whenever Israel threatens to block something we transfer it into the president’s authority,” said Palestinian political analyst Talal Awkal.
Adding to the tensions, Haniyeh’s Cabinet took a decision on Wednesday to freeze administrative appointments made by the previous Fatah-dominated government.
Awkal said he expected more such decisions from Abbas. He believed Abbas’ decision stemmed from fears Israel could block the crossings, which could “cause a humanitarian and economic catastrophe in Gaza.”
Citing security concerns and threats of attacks, Israel has repeatedly closed the Karni commercial crossing into Gaza — a lifeline for Palestinians in the strip, from which the Jewish state withdrew last year after 38 years of occupation.
In a move likely to add to tensions, Abbas named Rashid Abu Shbak, currently head of the powerful Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Service, as chief of internal security, a security official said. In his new post, Abu Shbak would be in charge of Preventive Security, police and the civil emergency services.
Interior Minister Saeed Seyam of Hamas has authority over the three security services. Although Abu Shbak would be answerable to Seyam, only Abbas would be able to dismiss him, the official said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs accused Israel yesterday of trying to sabotage the work of the Hamas-led government after he was briefly arrested on the outskirts of the holy city. Khaled Abu Arafeh was released more than five hours after his arrest at a checkpoint at the entrance to Al-Azaria, a suburb of East Jerusalem which is technically part of the occupied West Bank.
In another development, President Moshe Katsav yesterday formally asked Ehud Olmert, leader of the centrist Kadima party, to put together Israel’s next coalition, which the prime minister-designate said would determine Israel’s final borders, unilaterally if necessary.
Meanwhile, Olmert and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak announced plans yesterday to meet as soon as the Israeli leader puts together a new government, officials said.
— With input from agencies
