GAZA CITY, 28 November 2004 — Palestinian security officials said yesterday they were dismantling a notorious militia squad, known as “the death group”, in what appeared to be the first concrete move toward reforming the sprawling security forces.
“We have decided to dismantle the protection and security department, which is known by the public as the ‘death group’ because we want to protect all the people,” said Rashid Abu Shbak, head of preventative security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“We respect the law and we will implement the reforms (of the security forces) and provide security for all people,” he told a Gaza news conference.
The Gaza-based group, which was set up before the four-year Palestinian uprising, or intifada, broke out in September 2000, was originally tasked with protecting VIPs visiting the territory.
But over the last few years — the 70-member group, which falls under the remit of the Palestinian preventative security forces — has run increasingly wild, conducting raids, kidnappings and armed attacks.
As the intifada rumbled on and security increasingly spiralled out of control, members of the group began running protection and extortion rackets, often involved in gunbattles through the streets of Gaza.
Known to everyone and widely feared, this “armed-wing of the preventative security forces” would mete out justice to individuals, politicians or journalists it deemed worthy of punishment.
In the last six months, security in Gaza has deteriorated significantly, following a spate of kidnappings and mass demonstrations against official Palestinian Authority (PA) appointments.
In July, the Gaza Strip was hit by an unprecedented spate of abductions, which led Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei to submit his resignation, before later retracting it.
Among those kidnapped, was then Palestinian police chief, Gen. Ghazi Jabali, who was snatched for several hours and resigned shortly afterwards.
Acting head of the Palestinian intelligence services, Tareq Abu Rajab, was also seriously wounded in August when gunmen ambushed his convoy and killed two of his bodyguards.
A month later, Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Batrawi, a senior member of the security services, was abducted by kidnappers who intercepted his car and forced him out of the vehicle.
Violent protests broke out across the territory in July when late PA President Yasser Arafat appointed his cousin Musa as overall head of general security. Demonstrators denounced him as the epitome of corruption.
Attacks on journalists have also become commonplace, particularly against newspapers or media outlets that publish articles or air broadcasts about corruption within the PA.
Abu Shbak said the security forces were keeping a tight rein on militant factions in a bid to ensure calm up to and during the Jan. 9 presidential election to choose a successor to Arafat.
“We in Fatah continue to keep all military groups under control and subject to the law, both now and especially in the future,” he said.
Members of the Fatah higher committee had decided to set up a special monitoring body to oversee the situation and to ensure that militant groups obey the law, he added.
“We want Fatah to have complete authority to control all groups so they are subject to the law,” Rashid said, vowing that the security forces would be ready to cope with anything, including Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza next year.
Under the terms of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s so-called disengagement plan, the Jewish state is to withdraw all troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza by the end of 2005.
