dageraad27
20-12-2006, 11:06
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Hamas and Fatah agreed Tuesday to a new cease-fire in Gaza after an earlier truce failed to stop street battles that have killed 14 people and wounded dozens more.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the new cease-fire and said it would begin at 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET).
The truce was brokered by a delegation at the Egyptian Embassy in Gaza.
Despite an agreement Sunday to halt the violence between the two Palestinian factions, the calm was short lived.
Less than 24 hours later, more gunbattles, kidnappings and chaos erupted on the streets of Gaza. (Watch violence in Gaza streets )
The new agreement came shortly after Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya called on Palestinians to "maintain your unity" and end the bloodshed.
"We are not enemies ... We have different political points of view, but we should not sink in this Israel-American plot," the Hamas leader said in a lengthy televised address.
Haniya blamed the United States for backing "an undeclared decision" to replace the Hamas-led Palestinian government through early elections.
"There is a decision to topple this government, and the Americans are the ones who lead this policy," Haniya said.
He also demanded the release of all Palestinians who have been kidnapped by both sides.
"Return your brothers to your brothers," he said.
Wounded schoolchildren
Earlier Tuesday, two members of the Palestinian national guard loyal to Fatah were kidnapped and killed, Palestinian security sources said.
Also, a Hamas fighter was killed and several others were wounded inside the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, the sources said.
The gunfight involved pro-Fatah Palestinian Intelligence Service officers against members of the Hamas military wing.
The hospital, in northern Gaza City, is adjacent to the Palestinian Intelligence Service headquarters, which is under Abbas' jurisdiction.
Another gunfight took place near the presidential compound, in southern Gaza City, between Hamas fighters and the presidential guard, the Palestinian sources said.
The fighters were connected to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian interior and foreign ministries, the sources said.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported he and cameraman Joe Durant were caught up in three clashes on Gaza City streets and it was impossible to count how many gunbattles had erupted across the region.
One street clash in Gaza City broke out as Palestinian children walked home from school, sending the kids running for cover as trucks carrying Fatah gunmen sped down the street firing their weapons, CNN video shows.
That prompted Hamas gunmen stationed on the streets to fire back.
A block away, seven school children were injured in a separate clash.
Fighters loyal to Abbas' Fatah party and Hamas have fought periodic street battles since Hamas won control of the Palestinian government in January's elections.
The ongoing clashes in Gaza intensified after Haniya's convoy was attacked Thursday as he tried to re-enter Gaza with millions of dollars he raised during a tour of neighboring countries.
A senior adviser to Jordan's King Abdullah told CNN the monarch hopes to help end the fighting by urging Fatah and Hamas leaders to meet in his country for talks.
Since Haniya and his Hamas party came to power, the Palestinian economy has been crippled by international sanctions imposed primarily by the United States and the European Union.
Both consider Hamas a terrorist organization for its failure to abandon its call for the destruction of Israel.
Abbas' call for early elections on Saturday -- elections that Fatah hopes to win -- sparked the latest round of violence.
Under the cease-fire, both sides agreed to pull their gunmen off the streets, stop demonstrations and put an end to provocative statements in Palestinian news media, according to representatives.
Bowing to pressure from Egyptian officials, Fatah also agreed to release seven Hamas members arrested over the weekend, sources in Abbas' office said.
Abbas said Saturday that he did not want Fatah to be part of a Hamas-led government, and said he had the constitutional right to dissolve the government and call new elections.
He vowed Palestinians would not be drawn into civil war.
"We need to lift the siege," he said. "Everyone must work together to achieve this objective."
Haniya said early elections would be unconstitutional and that Hamas would not participate, an adviser to the prime minister said.
Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told CNN that elections may not take place before mid-2007.
Bron: http://www.cnn.com
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the new cease-fire and said it would begin at 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET).
The truce was brokered by a delegation at the Egyptian Embassy in Gaza.
Despite an agreement Sunday to halt the violence between the two Palestinian factions, the calm was short lived.
Less than 24 hours later, more gunbattles, kidnappings and chaos erupted on the streets of Gaza. (Watch violence in Gaza streets )
The new agreement came shortly after Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya called on Palestinians to "maintain your unity" and end the bloodshed.
"We are not enemies ... We have different political points of view, but we should not sink in this Israel-American plot," the Hamas leader said in a lengthy televised address.
Haniya blamed the United States for backing "an undeclared decision" to replace the Hamas-led Palestinian government through early elections.
"There is a decision to topple this government, and the Americans are the ones who lead this policy," Haniya said.
He also demanded the release of all Palestinians who have been kidnapped by both sides.
"Return your brothers to your brothers," he said.
Wounded schoolchildren
Earlier Tuesday, two members of the Palestinian national guard loyal to Fatah were kidnapped and killed, Palestinian security sources said.
Also, a Hamas fighter was killed and several others were wounded inside the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, the sources said.
The gunfight involved pro-Fatah Palestinian Intelligence Service officers against members of the Hamas military wing.
The hospital, in northern Gaza City, is adjacent to the Palestinian Intelligence Service headquarters, which is under Abbas' jurisdiction.
Another gunfight took place near the presidential compound, in southern Gaza City, between Hamas fighters and the presidential guard, the Palestinian sources said.
The fighters were connected to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian interior and foreign ministries, the sources said.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported he and cameraman Joe Durant were caught up in three clashes on Gaza City streets and it was impossible to count how many gunbattles had erupted across the region.
One street clash in Gaza City broke out as Palestinian children walked home from school, sending the kids running for cover as trucks carrying Fatah gunmen sped down the street firing their weapons, CNN video shows.
That prompted Hamas gunmen stationed on the streets to fire back.
A block away, seven school children were injured in a separate clash.
Fighters loyal to Abbas' Fatah party and Hamas have fought periodic street battles since Hamas won control of the Palestinian government in January's elections.
The ongoing clashes in Gaza intensified after Haniya's convoy was attacked Thursday as he tried to re-enter Gaza with millions of dollars he raised during a tour of neighboring countries.
A senior adviser to Jordan's King Abdullah told CNN the monarch hopes to help end the fighting by urging Fatah and Hamas leaders to meet in his country for talks.
Since Haniya and his Hamas party came to power, the Palestinian economy has been crippled by international sanctions imposed primarily by the United States and the European Union.
Both consider Hamas a terrorist organization for its failure to abandon its call for the destruction of Israel.
Abbas' call for early elections on Saturday -- elections that Fatah hopes to win -- sparked the latest round of violence.
Under the cease-fire, both sides agreed to pull their gunmen off the streets, stop demonstrations and put an end to provocative statements in Palestinian news media, according to representatives.
Bowing to pressure from Egyptian officials, Fatah also agreed to release seven Hamas members arrested over the weekend, sources in Abbas' office said.
Abbas said Saturday that he did not want Fatah to be part of a Hamas-led government, and said he had the constitutional right to dissolve the government and call new elections.
He vowed Palestinians would not be drawn into civil war.
"We need to lift the siege," he said. "Everyone must work together to achieve this objective."
Haniya said early elections would be unconstitutional and that Hamas would not participate, an adviser to the prime minister said.
Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told CNN that elections may not take place before mid-2007.
Bron: http://www.cnn.com