GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, June 12, 2007
Has Gaza Descended Into Civil War?
Hamas Seizes Fatah's Security Headquarters; Fatah Considers Pulling Out Of Coalition
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Play CBS Video Video Gaza Nears Civil War With reports of gruesome street executions and savage brutality, fighting between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah is seemingly at the brink of civil war. Charlie D'Agata reports.
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Video Gaza Violence Flares Fierce fighting between the two leading political factions in the Palestinian territories is stoking fears of a slide into all-out civil war. Charlie D'Agata reports on the increasing violence.
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Video Battle For Gaza Fighting has escalated in Gaza as two rival factions, Fatah and Hamas, battle for control of the territory. Mark Phillips reports that the violence is wreaking havoc and terrorizing civilians.
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Masked Hamas militants stand in the national security headquarters in Al-Nusairat, Gaza, which had been loyal to Fatah, June 12, 2007. (AFP)
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Smoke billows from a building in Gaza City, June 12, 2007. (AFP)
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Palestinian women in the West Bank city of Ramallah protest the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip, June 12, 2007. (AFP)
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Members of Hamas' Executive Force walk in the street near Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City after it was attacked on June 12, 2007. (AP)
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
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Both sides said Gaza has descended into civil war, as the death toll from two days of fighting reached 37.
Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has the larger fighting force in Gaza — around 80,000 — but the more militant Hamas has a highly trained and motivated militia of 6,000 that has been overrunning some of Fatah's most strategic strongholds, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
The conflict escalated further when the Fatah central committee decided to suspend the activities of its ministers in the government it shares with Hamas. In an emergency meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the movement decided on a full withdrawal if the fighting doesn't stop, said Fatah-affiliated government spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
Tuesday's battles marked a turning point, with Hamas moving systematically to seize Fatah positions in what some in the Islamic militant group said would be a decisive phase in the yearlong power struggle. The confrontations turned increasingly brutal in recent days, with some killed execution-style in the streets, others in hospital shootouts or thrown off rooftops.
A survivor of the Hamas assault on the northern security headquarters said the Fatah forces were outgunned and that reinforcements never arrived. “We were pounded with mortar, mortar, mortar,” the Fatah fighter, who only gave his first name as Amjad, said excitedly and out of breath. “They had no mercy. It was boom, boom. They had rockets that could reach almost half of the compound.”
In other developments:
Battles raged across the strip Tuesday. The staccato of gunfire echoed across Gaza City, plumes of smoke rose into the air from far-flung neighborhoods and one battle sent a dozen preschoolers scrambling for cover. In one desperate attempt to boost morale, disorganized Fatah forces attacked Hamas' main TV station, but were repelled after a heavy battle.
The Hamas TV station later showed a group of captured men it said were among the attackers, blood streaming down their faces.
Early Monday, Fatah militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in a refugee camp next to Gaza City. The grenade blasted a hole in the wall and damaged the inside of the house, but no one was hurt.
A few hours later, Hamas militants fired at the Gaza office complex of President Mahmoud Abbas from Fatah. Abbas was in the West Bank at the time, and there were no casualties from the attack.
Many ordinary Gazans, pinned down in their homes, were furious with the combatants. “Both Fatah and Hamas are leading us to death and destruction,” said Ayya Khalil, 29, whose husband serves as an intelligence officer. “The don't care about us.”
In the West Bank, Abbas was meeting with Fatah movement leaders, some of whom urged him to leave the coalition government with Hamas, established three months ago, declare a state of emergency, which would give him sweeping powers, or call early elections. However, none of the options was appealing, and was likely to lead only to more turmoil.
There was concern that the fighting might spread to the West Bank, where Fatah has the upper hand, as Hamas rang up victories in Gaza. Late Tuesday, Fatah gunmen wounded four Hamas activists in the West Bank city of Nablus, Fatah said in a statement.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 178 Comments
- Palestine and the Palestinians are out of control. Within that ancient community there is no respect for life or the rights of individuals. There is no regard for innocent children, women, the aged or those just trying to survive. There is no government - - there never can be one.
Yet, western communities continue to dump $millions into so called humanitarian causes and attempts to bring civility to the clearly uncivilized.
It's time to close the borders - close off all aid - close of all relations. The Palestinians have clearly demonstrated that they are not worth saving. It's too *** bad because every life is precious. But, we can only help those who make at least an effort, no matter how small, to help themselves. The Palestinians have made no such effort. It's time to let them sleep in the beds they have made and the graves they have dug.
Posted by pdhlondon
You state the problems with clarity and insight. Your statements describe the problems brilliantly. - Reply to this comment
- Palestine and the Palestinians are out of control. Within that ancient community there is no respect for life or the rights of individuals. There is no regard for innocent children, women, the aged or those just trying to survive. There is no government - - there never can be one.
Yet, western communities continue to dump $millions into so called humanitarian causes and attempts to bring civility to the clearly uncivilized.
It's time to close the borders - close off all aid - close of all relations. The Palestinians have clearly demonstrated that they are not worth saving. It's too *** bad because every life is precious. But, we can only help those who make at least an effort, no matter how small, to help themselves. The Palestinians have made no such effort. It's time to let them sleep in the beds they have made and the graves they have dug. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by j-whitman at 02:13 AM : Jun 13, 2007
We agree that Zionism is a Jewish creation.
Have a good night. - Reply to this comment
- American zionism towards Isreal didn't kick off big untill after the 6 Day War..
I'm going to bed, good night. - Reply to this comment
- tuckerndfw,,,, It's late, Zionism is a Jewish creation..... Principles of Zion was what the Nazi's used,,, Look it up.... Zionism is sanctioned by Isreals governement & even in the title of thier Educational Department..... Fully sanctioned today by the Isreal government.
The Jewish Agency for Isreal,, Department for Jewish Zionist Education.
http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demjpop.html - Reply to this comment
- Posted by j-whitman at 01:48 AM : Jun 13, 2007
Zionists, as a group, Jew or Christian, tend to be extremists. That extremism allows them to justify any barbarity or cruelty in furtherance of their cause.
Zionists supported the German Nazis because it furthered their goals. The British opposed a "Jewish state," as did the US and everyone else, which led Zionists to actively collaborate with the German Nazis. The holocaust was to their benefit. To Zionists, the holocaust is the greatest event that ever happened. And, it appears they actively conspired to make it happen.
There is little or no difference between Zionists and Muslim extremists. The primary difference is that Zionists have far more effective weapons, much more money, and an international propaganda machine that never stops. - Reply to this comment
- Bed time,, good night all.
- Reply to this comment
- tuckerndfw,,,
I read your link, I've read a lot of articles from a good many well educated people -- In Germany nazi's where anti-semites & gave us the concept of anti-sematism being only against Jews.
Zionism ie. the Protocals of Zion, distributed by the Ford's & & many others including DuPont & Prescot Bush prior too & during WW2 throughout Europe, & Germany, is what was used,, , Totally anti-sematic anti Jew ..
. Zionism became radical & Was a extream Jewish movement from that point on... I think your link was an attempt to redirect the problems it created.
, Isreal teachees Zionism in thier schools & is part of thier government... It's origin was Jewish... The British opposed strongly the creation of a Jewish State. - Reply to this comment
- Re: "Unlike the Muslims who hide behind civilians"
The only country that we know, FOR SURE, with a long and chronic policy of using 'human shields', are the Israelis- proven beyond a reasonable doubt, before their own Supreme Court.
www.adalah.org/newsletter/eng/oct05/1.php
The Israeli Supreme Court has banned this cowardly Israeli terrorist tactic, but there is no reason to believe that the Israelis are complying with this ban.
Amazingly, the Israelis commonly attribute this practice to their adversaries, as a pathetic excuse for their own atrocities and crimes.
The Israelis have no place criticising others for the use of 'human shields' anyway, since they have so routinely embraced this craven practice themselves.
The Israelis have truly become their own worst oppressors, and they are likely to pull the U.S. under along side them. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by j-whitman at 01:14 AM : Jun 13, 2007
The original Zionists did not claim Jerusalem or Palestine as their preferred location. That claim did not come until 1917 when Lord Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, sent a letter to Baron Rothschild, Zionist leader in London, declaring that a Jewish homeland should be located in Palestine.
Lord Balfour and England had no lawful authority to make any such declaration and it has been disputed almost since the day it was issued.
Despite claims that the Balfour Declaration "gave" Jews Palestine as their homeland, Britain severely restricted immigration to Palestine to prevent it being overrun by Jews.
But, that changed following WWII and the holocasut inspired calls for a "Jewish homeland" in Palestine.
It appears Zionist collaboration with the German Nazis paid much better dividends than their collaborations with the Soviet Union, US & UK. - Reply to this comment
- rhs648,,, We have had Palestinians in our collegs also,, they aren't far behind the others & aren't backwards people any more than others are, but they are kept isolated & have no access to many of thier business & farms...
. Yes they indeed need to go foward -- Bush turned over Middle East US policies to Isreal, so that's not likely to happen in the near future. - Reply to this comment
- schools filled with dared kids, prisons with poor minorities, wars with mid-easterns, immigrants sleeping twenty to a closet, dressed people with forced into clothes, lazy ignorant profane folk treated as if scarlet lettered when more food is thrown away each day than is needed to feed the world, folk forced to invest money in those who make everyone pay, to invest votes in those who tax all at gunpoint, to invest market share in all but the most vulnerable: infants and toddlers, as kids age five and less suffer more than 99 plus % of spankings yet are 99 plus % more likely to suffer injury or death, and there's an epic quest for the olympic gold that puts far kids into wheelchairs than onto any playing field, and the worst part: it is all unneccessary. vietnam took a day to say it's over and dare a day to say it's begun. if just one percent of the resources invested in get sick soon tax the world first strike on the trail were invested in minimum wage kids age five and less dancing get well soon you are here why why why feed the world first aid on the trail songs: the world would be a place more well canvased. no more to melting japanese kids to save the people who kicked the u.s. kids out of pearl harbor. hey kids age five and less: be the wall torn down all day everyday, but be it everywhere. and congress: try not to tear it down all day everyday, and try not to everywhere.
- Reply to this comment
- tuckerndfw,,,
Zionist Movement founded by the Viennese Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl, who argued in his 1896 book Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) that the best way of avoiding anti-Semitism in Europe was to create an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Zionism was named after Mount Zion in Jerusalem, a symbol of the Jewish homeland in Palestine since the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC. The movement culminated in the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/browse/glossary.html - Reply to this comment
- The Jewish tribes where mostly highway robbbers & mercinaries, some where farmers & sheppards on what ever land they could claim... Prior to David thier is little archeological evidence of just who they where.
Posted by j-whitman
Today they are educated, successful, and years ahead of the Palestinians. If only the Palestinians exerted as much energy on building a future for their children instead of hating and warring against Israel. They should go forward. Otherwise they fall further and further behind. - Reply to this comment
- rhs648.. There are many comparisons,,, The Slave Revolts in the Carolina's in the 1790's we cut thier heads off & stuck them on milage markers along the highways,, burned loyalist out of thier homes & hung them, some where even tied up & skinnned alive..... We had only a small orginized army with little finiancial backing, & many militias...
. Yes the British called them terrorists. -- To think it's a Muslem problem is flatly wrong & narrow minded... -- My folks came here in 1765 & was given marijuanna seeds to grow hemp.
. There is definately a dark side of our history for 200 years we aren't tought about. - Reply to this comment
- Please don't tell me this is refering to the Holocaust? If so you have lost any and all credibility.
Posted by fillyfan3 at 02:18 PM : Jun 12, 2007
It is a historical fact that Zionists actively collaborated with the German Nazis.
Zionists did not care how many Jews were slaughtered by the German Nazis. The more, the better for their cause. David Ben-Gurion and his thugs weren't in Europe, so what did they care?
David Gruen (Ben-Gurion) was a Polish atheist and "nazi" who was expelled from Palestine in 1915 for his "nazi" activities.
Zionist collaboration with German Nazis:
"Zionism was supported by the German SS and Gestapo.[3] [4] [5] [6] Hitler himself personally supported Zionism.[7] [8] During the 1930%u2019s, in cooperation with the German authorities, Zionist groups organized a network of some 40 camps throughout Germany where prospective settlers were trained for their new lives in Palestine."
Source: http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/antisemitism/nazisupport.cfm
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Ben-Gurion's "nazi" activities:
"In 1915 Ben-Gurion, expelled from Palestine for his nationalist and socialist activities, . . . "
Source: http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/bengurion2.html
("Nazi" is a contraction of "nationalist socialist")
David Ben-Gurion was as much a Nazi as he was a Zionist, but there is little difference between the two. - Reply to this comment
- To compare middle east terrorists with participants in the Revolutionary Wat or the Civil War defies reality. Unlike the Muslims who hide behind civilians, blow-up their own people, and murder their own people, the Anericans fought against armies. Although there may have been some exceptions by some over zealous people, it was not acceptable for our forefathers to butcher, maim, torture, or murder men, women, and children who were not actively engaged in the conflicts. There is a difference between fighting armies and the barbarians in the middle east who see everyone as fair game.
- Reply to this comment
- rhs648,, During the time of King David & before, Palestinians where a mixture of Mediterainian people including Syrians & Cannanites amongst others --
. The Jewish tribes where mostly highway robbbers & mercinaries, some where farmers & sheppards on what ever land they could claim... Prior to David thier is little archeological evidence of just who they where. - Reply to this comment
- Isreal's Zionism it's offical & part of thier currtent government structure, Isreals education department teaches it to thier children is also a major source of the problems -- Highly anti-semetic & dangerous.
- Reply to this comment
- The Zionist state has succeeded in creating such sub-humans who are putting their blood and souls at stake to retrieve their land...."
Posted by grazinggoat
And what were these people before Israel? Sheep Herders, nomads, farmers? The Palestinians never had much to begin with. They didn't need Israel to be poor, uneducated, and backwards. They succeeded on their own. - Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
