Hamas calls for Fatah executions
Hamas calls for Fatah executions(Israel News Photo: illustrative)

Hamas legislators Thursday called for wholesale executions of security officers who are loyal to the rival Fatah faction and one lawmaker demanded that Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas stand trial. The legislators' statement that "high treason…requires the death penalty" was a reaction to the Fatah crackdown on Hamas in Judea and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Samaria.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Gaza de facto Hamas government discussed security coordination between it and the Palestinian Authority, headed by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.

 

Hamas legislator Mohammed Shehab demanded that Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stand trial "for their systematic crimes against the Palestinian resistance," the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

 

The PA Legislative Council has not functioned as a body since June 2007, when Hamas took over control in Gaza in a bloody militia war against Fatah, effectively ending the unity government.

 

Egyptian authorities and Yemeni negotiators so far have failed to bring about a peace treaty between the warring factions. Fatah has boycotted Hamas de facto government meetings in Gaza.