U.S. Expected to Announce $900 Million Palestinian Aid Package
Hamas Continues Attacks Against Palestinian Moderates

Experts on the Israeli-Arab conflict

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to arrive in the Middle East Monday, along with Middle East envoy George Mitchell, to take part in the International Donors Conference for Gaza in Egypt. While there, the U.S. officials are expected to announce that they will pledge more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza. U.S. officials have said that the assistance won’t be funneled through Iran-backed Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and continues to torture and kill members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s rival Fatah party. [1]

In 2006, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party lost a bloody power struggle waged by Hamas in Gaza. Since then, Iran-backed Hamas has been the sole ruler of the Gaza Strip. [2]

Almost three years later, Palestinian in-fighting between the rival groups in Gaza continues and has even intensified. [3] In recent weeks, Hamas has taken harsh measures against Fatah, renewing house arrest orders against Fatah officials and activists and killing or wounding at least 100 Fatah members. [4]

The Hamas parliament in December approved a bill to institute Islamic Sharia law in Gaza, which allows courts to use punishment such as whipping, amputations, hanging and crucifixion. [5] Hamas, unlike Fatah which currently rules the West Bank, does not recognize Israel and is against a two-state solution.

Hamas has admitted arresting, executing and torturing Fatah “spies” accused of aiding Israel during Israel’s defensive “Operation Cast Lead” in Gaza. Hamas leaders have labeled Abbas an “Israeli collaborator.” [6]

PA Minister of Social Welfare Affairs Mahmoud Habbash confirmed that during Israel’s three-week operation that formally ended Jan. 17, Hamas members killed 19 Palestinians and shot more than 60 others in the legs. [7]

On Jan. 26, the EU called on Fatah and Hamas to reconcile under Abbas’ leadership. Warned Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn Schwarzenberg, “If there will be no consensus government, I do not see how we are going to get out of this negative spiral.” [8]

Examples of Hamas brutality against Fatah since December 2008

• On Feb. 10, Amnesty International accused Hamas of killing or mutilating Palestinian opponents in Gaza following the start of Israel’s defensive operation there on Dec. 27, 2008.

In its report, Amnesty stated: “Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of ‘collaborating’ with Israel, as well as opponents and critics.” Amnesty International said that at least two dozen men were shot dead by Hamas gunmen. [9]

• Human rights experts said on Feb. 8 that at least six Fatah members were killed and several more detained since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was established on Jan. 17, and many other Fatah members have gone into hiding. A relative of one such Fatah loyalist said: “The most painful thing is that Hamas attacked its own people. […] They turn on their own people.” [10]

• PA President Mahmoud Abbas has not been in Gaza for two-and-a-half years for fear of being killed by Hamas. [11]

• During Israel’s three-week defensive operation that ended Jan. 17, Hamas held Fatah members in makeshift detention centers including schools and mosques, according to human rights groups. [12]

• During Israel’s defensive operation, a Fatah official said, “[Hamas members] have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip.” [13]

• The New York Times Palestinian correspondent Taghreed el-Khodary witnessed the murder of an alleged Israeli collaborator by Hamas gunmen. Hamas shot him in the skull, in front of the correspondent. One of the gunmen urged the journalist to remain silent about the incident and never to mention what she saw to anyone. [14]

Examples of Hamas brutality against Fatah in 2007-2008

• In July 2008, Fatah members said one of its senior officials in Gaza was tortured to death by Hamas security forces. “This crime is added to a series of crimes that have been committed by Hamas against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip,” said Fahmi Za’arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank. [15]

• In April 2008, Sami Khattab, a Fatah operative, died shortly after being detained by Hamas. According to Fatah officials, he too had been brutally tortured while in detention. [16]

• The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) accused Hamas of mistreatment and torture inflicted by Hamas police on Fatah activists who had been arrested in August 2008. PCHR also denounced Hamas’s rejection of a lawyer’s request to visit the prisoners. [17]

• In August 2008, the Israeli Army agreed to let 150 Fatah members flee Gaza via Israel into the West Bank. Israel considered it a “humanitarian gesture” as the violent conflict between the two rival groups mounted. Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon justified the move by saying that Israel would help those Palestinians who are fighting against radical Islam and support negotiations. [18]

• In October 2008, the Israeli defense establishment formed a joint team with the Shin Bet and the Foreign Ministry as concerns grew over Hamas’s targeting of Fatah officials through abductions and assassination attempts. PA security forces have uncovered two underground warehouses and explosives labs and shut down a Hamas training facility. [19]

• In 2007, Hamas threw a Fatah member from a rooftop and killed him afterwards. [20]

Experts on the Israeli-Arab conflict

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Affiliation: Founder & President, The Israel Project
Tel: 202-857-6644 (office); 202-365-0787 (cell)
E-mail: jenniferm@theisraelproject.org  

Mitchell Bard
Affiliation: Executive Director, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
Field: Israeli history; Israeli-American relations
Tel: 301-565-3918
E-mail: mgbard@aol.com  

Lanny J. Davis
Affiliation: Former Senior Advisor and Spokesman, The Israel Project
Tel: (301) 928-7532 (office); (202) 339-8442 (cell)
Pager: 1-888-997-3706
E-mail: ldavis@orrick.com  

Frank Gaffney
Affiliation: President, Center for Security Policy
Tel: 202-835-9077 (office)
E-mail: gaffney@cetnerforsecuritypolicy.org

Gidi Grinstein
Affiliation: Founder and President, The Re'ut Institute
Tel: 011-972-3-624-7770 (office); 011-972-52-220-0565 (cell)
E-mail: gidi@reut-institute.org

Malcolm Hoenlein
Affiliation: Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations
Field: Israeli-American relations
Tel: 212-318-6111 (office)
E-mail: info@conferenceofpresidents.org

Amb. Martin Indyk
Affiliation: Director, Saban Center
Tel: 202-797-6462 (office)
E-mail: sabancenter@brookings.edu

David Makovsky
Affiliation: Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy,
Tel: 202-452-0650 (office)
E-mail: davidm@washingtoninstitute.org

Jonathan Peled (English & Spanish)
Affiliation: Spokesman, Israeli Embassy
Tel: (202) 276-2800 (cell)
E-mail: sp@washington.mfa.gov.il 

Dr. Walid Phares
Affiliation: Director, Future Terrorism Project, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Teaching: Professor of Global Strategies, National Defense University
Tel: 202-207-3700
E-mail: Phares@walidphares.com
Web site:  www.walidphares.com 

Rep. Brad Sherman
Affiliation: U.S. Congressman, Subcommitee for International Terrorism and Nonproliferation
Tel: 202-225-5911 (office)
Web site:  www.house.gov/sherman/about/   

[1] Pleming, Sue, “US Middle East Envoy Makes Second Trip to Region,” Reuters, Feb. 24, 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN24418583

[2] Putz, Ulrike, “Die blutige Jagd auf die Fatah,” Der Spiegel Online, Jan. 25, 2009,  http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,603361,00.html
 
[3] Weiler-Polak, Dana, “With war over, Fatah members say Hamas sees them as the real danger,” Haaretz, Jan. 25, 2009,  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057961.html
 
[4] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “Hamas torturing Fatah members in Gaza,” The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 19, 2009,  http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232292907998&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
 
[5] “Hamas pushes for Sharia punishments,” The Jerusalem Post, Dec. 24, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1229868840606

[6] Kalman, Matthew, “Hamas says Fatah taking revenge in West Bank,” The San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 2009, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/22/MN3215FAUD.DTL

[7] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “Hamas confirms executing Fatah collaborators,“ The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 22, 2009, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1232292930390

[8] “EU fordert Einheitsregierung,” Der Spiegel Online, Jan. 26, 2009, http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,603438,00.html

[9] “Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents,” Agence France-Presse, Feb. 10, 2009, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090210/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazarightsngoamnesty

[10] “Gaza: Hamas hunting Fatah loyalists who collaborated with Israel,” YnetNews, Feb. 8, 2009, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3668615,00.html

[11] “Caught in the conflict: innocent suffer from Hamas-Fatah rivalry,” Russia Today Online, Feb. 3, 2009, http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/36720

[12] Frykberg, Mel, “Political Divide Between Hamas, Fatah Deepens,” Middle East Times, Feb. 6, 2009, http://www.metimes.com/International/2009/02/06/political_divide_between_hamas_fatah_deepens/5096/  
[13] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “Hamas moves on Fatah‚ collaborators,” The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 4, 2009, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733155685

[14] Bronner, Ethan, “The Bullets in My In-Box,” The New York Times, Jan. 24, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/weekinreview/25bronner.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&em

[15] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “Fatah: Hamas tortured senior official to death,” The Jerusalem Post, July 12, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330944313&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[16] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “Fatah: Hamas tortured senior official to death,” The Jerusalem Post, July 12, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330944313&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[17] “Palestinian human rights center accuses Hamas of torturing Fatah activists,” Asia News Online, Aug. 8, 2008, http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=12961

[18] “Fatah-Anhänger nach Israel geflohen,” Der Tagesspiegel Online, Aug. 3, 2008, http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/international/nahost/Irael-Hamas-Fatah;art2662,2585041

[19] Fishman, Alex, “Hamas-Fatah tensions rising,” YnetNews, Oct. 15, 2008, http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3608996,00.html

[20] “Hamas tötet Generalsekretär der Fatah,“ dpa, June 11, 2007, http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/532/362354/text/

The Israel Project authorizes and welcomes use of any part or all of this release/statement free of charge and without attribution.