The two Palestinian Authority factions agreed on Wednesday to the ceasefire after days of violence between the two groups. Internal fighting on Monday left two Fatah fighters shot to death by Hamas gunmen, as well as a Hamas gunman killed by Fatah supporters.
Twelve others were wounded in Monday’s battles, including eight children in downtown Gaza City, according to witnesses. The violence continued on into Tuesday, wounding another 14 people, including five children on their way to school. The clashes have been slowly escalating into what PA Arabs fear may become an outright civil war.
Concerns that the violence might evolve into total anarchy pushed the leaders of the two factions to unite on Wednesday in ordering their members to lay down their arms.
Members of the two groups have been attacking each other since Hamas won the January PA elections in a landslide, displacing Fatah as the ruling party.
“I assure the Palestinian people that dialogue will be the only tool,” announced Haniyeh after Tuesday night’s meeting. Abbas concurred, calling the deaths of three fighters “unfortunate and unacceptable.”
A joint statement between Fatah and Hamas officials in Damascus also underscored the plea for peace between the factions. “We call on everyone to resort to calm and rule of law and turn clashes to dialogue,” said the statement. “If strife occurs, the Zionist Entity will be the only beneficiary.”
Control over security forces is the main issue fueling the fights, with Hamas having created a separate military police unit to compete with Fatah’s control over all other PA security forces.
Keeping the PA alive in the face of empty coffers and angry constituents is the other issue on the table.
Complicating the picture is the slow disintegration of the social fabric in the PA, a direct result of lack of funds. The PA government has not paid its 145,000 workers for two months, leading to stress within families, social service agencies and even the prisons, where authorities have told relatives to bring their own food to prisoners.
International foreign aid to the PA was cut off after the elections in light of Hamas’ continuing refusal to renounce terrorism, formally recognize Israel’s right to exist and uphold peace agreements signed by the previous Arab leadership.
Twelve others were wounded in Monday’s battles, including eight children in downtown Gaza City, according to witnesses. The violence continued on into Tuesday, wounding another 14 people, including five children on their way to school. The clashes have been slowly escalating into what PA Arabs fear may become an outright civil war.
Concerns that the violence might evolve into total anarchy pushed the leaders of the two factions to unite on Wednesday in ordering their members to lay down their arms.
Members of the two groups have been attacking each other since Hamas won the January PA elections in a landslide, displacing Fatah as the ruling party.
“I assure the Palestinian people that dialogue will be the only tool,” announced Haniyeh after Tuesday night’s meeting. Abbas concurred, calling the deaths of three fighters “unfortunate and unacceptable.”
A joint statement between Fatah and Hamas officials in Damascus also underscored the plea for peace between the factions. “We call on everyone to resort to calm and rule of law and turn clashes to dialogue,” said the statement. “If strife occurs, the Zionist Entity will be the only beneficiary.”
Control over security forces is the main issue fueling the fights, with Hamas having created a separate military police unit to compete with Fatah’s control over all other PA security forces.
Keeping the PA alive in the face of empty coffers and angry constituents is the other issue on the table.
Complicating the picture is the slow disintegration of the social fabric in the PA, a direct result of lack of funds. The PA government has not paid its 145,000 workers for two months, leading to stress within families, social service agencies and even the prisons, where authorities have told relatives to bring their own food to prisoners.
International foreign aid to the PA was cut off after the elections in light of Hamas’ continuing refusal to renounce terrorism, formally recognize Israel’s right to exist and uphold peace agreements signed by the previous Arab leadership.