Last update - 02:59 19/12/2006
Gaza cease-fire collapses; Abu Zaida kidnapped, released
By Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies , By Avi Issacharoff
The cease-fire between Palestinian factions in Gaza collapsed yesterday evening, less than 24 hours after it was forged. The armed wing of Hamas abducted Sufyan Abu Zaida, a former Fatah cabinet minister and held him for a few hours last night before releasing him. In response, Fatah kidnapped 11 Hamas militants in the Jabalya area, including three senior members of Izz al-Din al-Qassam, and threatened to kill them unless Abu Zaida was released.
A Hamas military spokesman said last night that Abu Zaida's release was a goodwill gesture on Hamas' part. Fatah was expected to release the 11 Hamas militants at about midnight as part of a deal between Hamas and Fatah. Fatah militants also abducted Hamas Parliament Member Yousef al-Sharafi last night.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas insisted yesterday that he will push ahead with his call for new elections, despite a wave of fighting between Hamas and Fatah that has left the Gaza Strip on the brink of chaos.
At a press conference with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Abbas said that he would not be deterred by violence and would proceed with presidential and legislative elections.
During the joint press conference, Abbas called on Israel to renew peace talks, in the hope that this would give him the necessary electoral edge over Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
A recent poll among the Palestinians showed that Abbas and Haniyeh are in a tight race, each with a 46 percent backing.
Abbas also said he is ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert anytime. "We have to meet. We need each other, and we have to deal with our problems," Abbas said, adopting a much warmer tone than in the past.
Blair was effusive in his praise of Abbas and urged the world to rally behind the Palestinian president.
"It is important for us, but I think [also] for the whole of the international community, to work with people who want a genuine two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinians, Blair said. "We want to work with people of moderation and tolerance who understand that, in today's world, people of different faiths want to live together."
Abbas had hoped to end the standoff with Hamas by forming a more moderate coalition government. But the negotiations broke down late last month, setting the stage for his plan to hold early elections. Hamas calls the plan an illegal coup attempt.
The cease-fire that brought a halt to the fighting between Hamas and Fatah which had spilled over during the weekend appeared to hold during the day, but toward the evening hours, heavy exchanges of fire between the two sides commenced anew in the northern Gaza Strip.
Hospital officials said one Fatah supporter was killed and five people wounded in fighting in the northern town of Jabalya. Masked gunmen from both sides deployed in Jabalya's streets after the man's death, setting up roadblocks and taking up positions in anticipation of possible fighting.
In Gaza City, about two dozen masked militants from the rival groups faced off in a gunbattle that left a 16-year-old bystander with a bullet wound in the neck. In other violence, masked militants shot and seriously wounded a Fatah member. Hamas loyalists burned down the shop of a brother of a local Fatah leader in northern Gaza, and kidnapped another brother. Masked gunmen also kidnapped the brother of a Fatah lawmaker, officials said.
Fatah militants responded by burning down a Hamas office and kidnapping a local Hamas leader.
Recent days have seen assassination attempts on the Palestinian prime minister and foreign minister, and a mortar attack on Abbas' office in Gaza.
Hamas' exiled political leader, Khaled Meshal, issued a statement from his headquarters in Syria stressing Hamas' commitment to "avoid inter-Palestinian fighting, dialogue as the only way to solve differences and problems with Fatah, and forming a national unity government."