Friday, July 15, 2005
And One I Didn't Expect
Haaretz:
Commence breath holding.
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
Given past experience, it's probably just an accident, something to be quickly smoothed over. But if Abbas finally realizes he has to fight the "idiots" or hand in his badge, things could get interesting.
The Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency in Gaza on Thursday night following fierce clashes between PA police and armed Hamas men in the north of the Strip. The move also came after a woman was killed by a Qassam rocket in the Negev moshav of Nativ Ha'asara. Hamas took responsibility for the attack.
Palestinian sources reported that a PA police force opened fire at a car carrying a number of Hamas activists, who were on their way to carry out more rocket launches at Israeli targets Thursday night. The driver of the car ignored orders to pull over, and the PA police then opened fire on the vehicle, wounding six of its occupants, one seriously.
In response, Hamas sent dozens of armed men out into the streets of northern Gaza in a show of strength, which included the firing of an RPG at a base of the PA's national security forces. Clashes between Hamas militants and PA police also took place in other areas of the Strip.
A state of emergency was subsequently declared by PA Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, in coordination with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. PA police reinforcements were deployed to the north of the Strip and curfews were imposed on a number of areas.
Commence breath holding.
