Gaza Cith blacked out as power plant shuts down after rocket attacks, Israeli reprisals

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer
¶ GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Gaza City was dark Thursday evening after a day of violence and retribution, raising the grim prospect of an end to a truce that has stopped most Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the seaside territory for five months.
¶ Gaza officials shut down their only power plant, cutting off electricity to much of the city of 300,000, after Israel canceled plans to ship in some diesel fuel for the plant as well as 30 trucks full of humanitarian supplies. The Israeli move came after Gaza militants fired at least eight rockets and some mortar shells at Israel on Thursday, according to the Israeli military.
¶ Rocket fire has resumed over the past week after an armed clash in Gaza, and Israel has clamped a tight blockade on the impoverished seaside territory.
¶ The truce, which ended months of rocket barrages that disrupted life in southern Israel and Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in response, is set to expire next month. Both sides have said they are interested in maintaining calm, but developments on the ground appear to be going in the other direction.
¶ Though no one was hurt in the rocket attacks on Israel Thursday, Israel scrapped plans to allow small amounts of fuel and supplies into Gaza. Kamal Obeid, a Hamas official at of the power plant, said fuel was running out and the facility would be shut down completely later Thursday.
¶ Israelis counter that the plant provides less than a quarter of Gaza's electricity, and most of the rest flows in unimpeded on power lines from Israel.
¶ The tight quarantine is causing serious problems, according to U.N. officials. Richard Miron, spokesman for the U.N. Mideast peace mission, called for restraint. "We renew our call for all sides to respect the calm," he said, charging that the blockade "hurts the people of Gaza and doesn't bring security to Israel."
¶ Without more supplies, the U.N. will be forced to suspend food distribution to 750,000 needy Gazans beginning Saturday, said John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
¶ "The U.N. has been very clear that we should not hand the agenda over to those who fire rockets," Ging said. "They shouldn't dictate whether the crossings are open or not for the civilian population here."
¶ Israel also continued to block diplomats and journalists from entering the territory, including a group of some 20 European diplomats. The military said crossings were closed to all but humanitarian operations.
¶ Gaza hasn't been sealed so long since Egyptian mediators hammered out a truce between Israel and Gaza's ruling Islamic militant Hamas group in June.
¶ The truce began eroding last week when Israeli forces entered Gaza to try destroy what they said was a militants' tunnel. Eleven militants have been killed in more than a week of fighting, and more than 130 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza at Israel since.
¶ "The rockets are a natural response to (Israel's) aggression," said Fawzi Barhoum of Hamas.
¶ Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel wants quiet. "The current round of violence is the sole responsibility of Hamas, who through their aggressive acts have endangered the lives of too many Israeli and Palestinian civilians," he said.
¶ Israeli warplanes flew low over Gaza on Thursday, setting off sonic booms.
¶ The Israeli military, meanwhile, delayed the replacement of its top Gaza commander because of the renewed violence, a military official said.
¶ Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir was scheduled to be replaced Friday, but his term has been extended indefinitely, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement has been made.

Long-serving Palestinian prisoner to get hero's welcome

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer   

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) _ The Palestinians are planning a hero's welcome for a militant mastermind whom Israel is freeing as a way to prop up the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, officials said Wednesday.
    In Gaza, meanwhile, a spokesman for the Hamas militant group threatened to harm a captured Israeli soldier if his group doesn't receive a similar gesture from Israel.
    A shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas faced a new test Wednesday after Gaza militants fired a rocket into southern Israel and Israel responded by shutting down Gaza's borders.
    Said Atba is among 199 Palestinian prisoners being freed by Israel in a gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas meant to bolster the moderate Palestinian leader and breathe new life into the flagging peace process.
    Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Minister Ashraf Ajrami says Israel has told him the release will likely take place next week. Earlier, Ajrami had said he expected it to be on Friday.
    Atba has spent 32 years in prison for commanding a militant cell that killed one woman and wounded dozens others in a market bombing in Israel. Popular among Palestinians, he has become a symbol of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
    Ajrami said there will be a rally for Atba and the other freed prisoners in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Atba will then receive another hero's welcome in his hometown of Nablus.
    The governor of Nablus has planned a huge homecoming party. He plans to greet Ajrami at a checkpoint outside Nablus, escort him to the city and hold a party "like a wedding" at city hall.
    The Israeli Cabinet approved the prisoner release this week, in part to boost Abbas in his rivalry with the Hamas militant group. Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas' forces in June 2007.
    Israel says the release sends a message that diplomacy, not violence, is the way to win concessions. Hamas is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including convicted murderers, in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier it has held in Gaza for two years.
    Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, has balked at Hamas' demands and Egyptian-mediated peace talks appear to have stalled.
    Late Tuesday, Abu Obeida, a leader of Hamas' military wing, threatened to harm the Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, if Israel does not meet his group's demands. He said Schalit would meet the same fate as Ron Arad, a missing Israeli airman who disappeared shortly after his plane crashed in Lebanon in 1986.
    "If the stubborness continues, then the enemy should consider Gilad Schalit as Ron Arad No. 2," he said.
    Israel and Hamas have been observing a cease-fire since June. On Wednesday, Israel closed its cargo crossings with Gaza after a Palestinian rocket attack on southern Israel that violated the truce.
    The rocket exploded in an open field late Tuesday, causing no injuries or damage, and there was no claim of responsibility.
    Gaza militants have sporadically violated the deal by firing rockets and mortars into Israel. Prior to the agreement militants would shell southern Israel almost daily.
    Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007. As part of the truce, Israel has promised to gradually reopen the borders, though the Palestinians say there has been little change.
    Gaza depends almost entirely on the Israeli-controlled crossings for basic goods to enter the territory.
    Israel's Defense Ministry said the crossings would stay closed for at least 24 hours.

Israel to release long-serving Palestinian prisoners in gesture to Abba

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer  

JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israel said Monday it will free two of its most prominent Palestinian prisoners _ a militant mastermind from the 1970s and a gunman elected to parliament while behind bars _ among 199 inmates to be released as a goodwill gesture to embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
    While the move will give an important boost to the moderate Abbas, it drew fierce criticism from some Israeli politicians, who said it could undermine attempts to free a captured Israeli soldier held in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
    Israel's prisons service said the upcoming release would include Said al-Atba, who has served 32 years of a life sentence for planting a bomb, illegal military training and belonging to a banned group. Al-Atba, 57, is the longest serving prisoner held by Israel and he is widely seen by the Palestinian public as a symbol for the prisoners.
    The fate of the roughly 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails is highly emotional, as many Palestinians either know someone in prison or have served time themselves. Abbas, who is struggling to show his people the fruits of drawn-out peace negotiations with Israel, has repeatedly urged Israel to carry out a large-scale release.
    "Solving the prisoner problem paves the road to solving other issues in (peace) negotiations," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a spokesman for Abbas. He said the inclusion of long-serving prisoners would bolster the president's credibility with the public, which has grown skeptical over the slow pace of peace talks.
    Israel has released prisoners to Abbas in the past, most recently last December. But it has balked at releasing Palestinians serving time for deadly attacks. It appears to be easing its criteria following last month's prisoner swap with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.
    Under that deal, Israel exchanged a Lebanese man convicted in a notorious triple murder for the remains of two Israeli soldiers. Eager to bolster Abbas in his rivalry with Hamas, Israel says the latest release is meant to show the Palestinians that dialogue, not violence, is the best way to win concessions.
    Also on the list Israel released Monday of the 199 prisoners set to be freed was Mohammed Abu Ali, jailed in 1980 for killing an Israeli settler in the West Bank and later convicted of killing a Palestinian in jail he accused of collaborating with Israel. Abu Ali also serves as a lawmaker from Abbas' Fatah party.
    The list also included at least a dozen people serving time for violent crimes like shootings, planting explosives and attempted murder, as well as a former Fatah lawmaker accused of accepting funds from Hezbollah.
    At Al-Atba's home in the West Bank city of Nablus, his 75-year-old mother, Widad, said neighbors were already coming over to congratulate her on her son's impending release.
    "I'm afraid to close my eyes. I haven't slept, waiting for him to come through the door. I can't wait to hold him," she said.
    Israel's Cabinet on Sunday approved the release of the prisoners. A smaller ministerial committee on Monday followed up by choosing the names of those to be freed. Al-Atba and Abu Ali were included after security officials concluded they are unlikely to return to violence.
    However, two senior officials, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, voted against the measure.
    They said the release would undermine negotiations over the return of an Israeli soldier held captive in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Negotiations have stalled because of Hamas demands to release convicted murderers.
    "When Israel releases prisoners, it is not seen as a concession, but as a weakness," Mofaz said. "This is a decision that broadcasts weakness and complacence with the current situation."
    Dichter is a former director of the Shin Bet internal security service, and Mofaz is a former military chief. Both men hope to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has said he will step down to battle corruption allegations.
    Sahar Francis, a prominent lawyer for Palestinian prisoners, said the planned release of Al-Atba has given hope to 300 other long-serving prisoners with similar sentences that they too might be freed in the future.
    "Prisoners are happy for everybody who is released, especially if they conducted attacks inside Israel and killed people," she said.
    Although Hamas welcomed the prisoner release, it is unlikely the group will ease its demands.
    "The government will make every possible effort for the release (of prisoners) from Israeli jails," said Taher Nunu, a Hamas government spokesman.
    Hamas may well now feel pressured to harden its position to show weary Gaza residents that it can still obtain more from Israel through kidnapping its soldiers, rather than peaceful negotiations.
    _________
    Associated Press correspondents Ali Daraghmeh in Nablus, West Bank, and Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.

Gaza youths get military training in Hamas summer camp during truce with Israel

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Youths leaped through fiery hoops as gunfire echoed in an action-packed graduation ceremony for a Hamas summer camp aimed at preparing the youngsters for battle against Israel.
    About 200 teens dressed in the uniforms of the Hamas military wing showed off their new skills Sunday in a sandy, ramshackle stadium in the eastern Shejaiyeh area of Gaza City. The goal of the Hamas camp was clear _ train the youth in military tactics and impart the militant Islamic ideology that has characterized Hamas.
    A truce that began June 19, halting Palestinian rocket barrages and Israeli reprisal raids, provided the calm for the camp to proceed unhindered.
    Some of the drills in the final event were the same as those seen at graduation ceremonies for Palestinian police and security forces.
    The youths leaped through hoops set on fire and summersaulted over the backs of others as older Hamas militants fired rifles. Random small bombs were also detonated in the sandy field.
    An older youth lay on the ground as a minivan drove over him _ the tire rolling over the youth's body to cheers and gasps by hundreds of onlookers. He later smashed concrete plates set on fire with a quick snap of his hand. Other youths also smashed concrete blocks piled on the youth's body, as organizers set a small fire nearby, increasing the pressure.
    A black-suited trio sung strident pro-Hamas music as the youths backflipped off scaffolding into a pool of water below, held onto a rope to glide across a metal cable fixed above the ground, and leaped off wooden bars, a few landing in a smoldering fire pit lit below them _ all while bearded gunmen fired their assault rifles in the air and around the youths' feet.
    They later lined up breathing heavily and standing still as khaki-clad camp leaders walked sternly among them.
    "They are tomorrow's leaders!" thundered Khalil Hayyeh, a senior Hamas leader.
    Last summer Hamas expelled its Fatah rivals and was busy with setting up its government in the coastal territory instead of running summer camps like this one. Now the truce has provided quiet.
    "There's no doubt that the stability and calm has created a good atmosphere that has allowed us to make more summer camps, and oversee the youths," said Ismail Ridwan in a telephone interview to The Associated Press.
    The Hamas legislator said when he was a child, Hamas was not able to hold camps because of Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip. Israel pulled out in 2005 but still controls Gaza's borders and has imposed a blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza.
    Israel has charged that the Hamas camps teach the youths to hate the Jewish state. Hamas is committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. "That has nothing to do with the camps, the hatred of Israel comes from (Israel's) occupation, which burdens our hearts," Ridwan said.

Mahmoud Darwish, world's best-known Palestinian poet, dies at 67 after heart surgery

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

   GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Mahmoud Darwish, the world's most recognized Palestinian poet, whose prose gave voice to the Palestinian experience of exile, occupation and infighting, died on Saturday in Houston, Texas. He was 67.
    The predominant Palestinian poet, whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages and won numerous international awards, died following open heart surgery at a Houston hospital, said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
    Born to a large Muslim family in historical Palestine _ now modern-day Israel _ he emerged as a Palestinian cultural icon who eloquently described his people's struggle for independence, and as a vocal critic of both the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian leadership. He gave voice to the Palestinian dreams of statehood, crafted their declaration of independence and helped forge a Palestinian national identity.
    "He felt the pulse of Palestinians in beautiful poetry. He was a mirror of the Palestinian society," said Ali Qleibo, a Palestinian anthropologist and lecturer in cultural studies at Al Quds University in Jerusalem.
    Darwish first gained prominence in the 1960s with the publication of his first poetry collection, "Bird without Wings." It included a poem ("Identity Card") that defiantly spoke in the first person of an Arab man giving his identity number _ a common practice among Palestinians when dealing with Israeli authorities and Arab governments _ and vowing to return to his land.
    Many of his poems have been put into music _ most notably "Rita," "Birds of Galilee" and "I yearn for my mother's bread" _ and have become anthems for at least two generations of Arabs.
    He wrote another 21 collections, the last in 2008, "The Impression of Butterflies."
    Qleibo described Darwish's poetry as "the easy impossible," for Darwish's ability to condense the Palestinian narrative into simple, evocative language _ breaking away from the more traditional heavy, emotive and rhythmic verse of other Arab poets.
    Darwish wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, read by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat when he unilaterally declared statehood. The declaration was symbolic and had no concrete significance.
    Darwish's influence was keenly felt among Palestinians, serving as a powerful voice for many.
    "He started out as a poet of resistance and then he became a poet of conscience," said Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi. "He embodied the best in Palestinians ... even though he became iconic he never lost his sense of humanity. We have lost part of our essence, the essence of the Palestinian being."
    Last year, Darwish recited a poem damning the deadly infighting between rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, describing it as "a public attempt at suicide in the streets."
    Darwish was born in the Palestinian village of Birweh near Haifa that was destroyed in the 1948 Mideast war that led to Israel's independence. He joined the Israeli Communist Party after high school and began writing poems for leftist newspapers.
    "When we think of Darwish ... he is our heart, and our tongue," said Issam Makhoul, an Arab lawmaker and veteran member of the Israeli Communist Party,
    Darwish left Israel in the early 1970s to study in the former Soviet Union, and from there he traveled to Egypt and Lebanon. He joined the Palestine Liberation Organization but resigned in 1993 in protest over the interim peace accords that the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, signed with Israel. Darwish moved to the West Bank city of Ramallah in 1996.
    His work is widely admired on the Arab and Palestinian street. In Israel, it evokes different feelings.
    In 2000, Israel's education minister, Yossi Sarid, suggested including some of Darwish's poems in the Israeli high school curriculum. But Prime Minister Ehud Barak overruled him, saying Israel was not ready yet for his ideas in the school system.
    In 1988, a Darwish poem, "Passing in Passing Words," was read by then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir inside Israel's parliament as an example of the Palestinians' unwillingness to live alongside Jews. The poem suggested that Darwish called for Jews to leave the region.
    Adel Usta, a specialist on Darwish's poetry, said the poem was misunderstood and mistranslated.
    "He created a national Palestinian identity that no other poet could achieve," Usta said.
    Darwish married and divorced twice. He does not have any children.
    Siham Daoud, a fellow poet and longtime friend of Darwish, said he traveled to a hospital in Houston, Texas, ten days ago for the surgery and asked not to be resuscitated if it did not succeed. She said Darwish had a history of heart problems, and has been operated on twice in the past.
    Akram Haniyeh, Editor-in-Chief of the Al Ayyam newspaper and a close friend of Darwish, was by Darwish's bedside in Houston. He said Darwish underwent an operation on Wednesday and there were complications.

Not just guns: Gazans smuggle lions and monkeys into zoo via secret tunnels

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

    RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ The monkeys and lions were drugged, tossed into cloth sacks and dragged through smuggling tunnels under the border between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip before ending up in a dusty Gaza zoo.
    Stocked almost entirely with smuggled animals, the "Heaven of Birds and Animals Zoo" is a sign of Gaza's ever-expanding tunnel industry. Dozens of passages are believed to snake under the border, serving as a mainstay of the local economy and a way to smuggle in everything from cigarettes to lingerie to automatic weapons.
    And smugglers say a new effort by Egypt to blow up the passages will have little effect on the flow of goods.
    Gaza's commercial trade was literally forced underground after the Islamic militant Hamas seized the coastal territory last summer, prompting neighboring Israel and Egypt to restrict movement through commercial crossings.
    While Israel has allowed more goods in since a June truce with Hamas, it is not enough to meet Gaza's needs. Tunnel smugglers fill the gaps, bringing in contraband drugs and guns and more mundane items like frilly underwear and laptop computers, as well as exotic animals like the lion and lioness that pace in a cage at the Rafah zoo.
    They were purchased as cubs from Egypt for $3,000 each, drugged and dragged through a tunnel in sacks. Zoo manager Shadi Fayiz said he went through a middleman to put in his order.
    At the small zoo, where umbrellas shade battered couches, there is a parrot who was slipped through a tunnel in a cage. He can ask for a kiss in Arabic, startling veiled Gazan women walking by, Fayiz said.
    Two monkeys were bought together as babies. So were three spindly legged gazelles, one of whom bit several tunnel smugglers when they forgot to sedate it, Fayiz said.
    All told, his animals cost over $40,000. Fayiz opened shop in June.
    "Without the tunnels, I couldn't have done this," the 23-year-old said.
    Egypt, under Israeli pressure, has ratcheted up its efforts in recent weeks to destroy the passages, blasting tunnel entrances on its side. But smugglers say they can easily build new ones.
    "You can't kill a snake," said a middleman who goes by Abu Mohammed, referring to the passages by their Gazan slang name, "hayyeh," the Arabic word snake.
    Like other traders interviewed by The Associated Press, he declined to give his full name, fearing retribution from Egypt and tax demands from Gaza's Hamas rulers.
    Gaza traders come to his office in Rafah with lists of products _ food, clothes, motor oil. He contacts Egyptian traders to find them, then shops for the cheapest tunnel to haul them through, ensuring a bigger profit.
    "Some tunnels want $100 a box, some just $70. You have to compare prices," he said.
    Such competition in the smuggling market was unthinkable before the Hamas takeover, when there were fewer passages and overland crossings still worked.
    Rows of lacy underwear hang in Abu Mohammed's shop, left over from a previous shipment. They were big sellers through the summer, when most Gaza weddings take place. This season, traders are ordering nuts for Ramadan, an upcoming Muslim holy month when the devout fast throughout the day and usually snack through the night.
    Traders estimate around 100 tunnels now run under the border, with the number rising since the Hamas takeover.
    Israel has demanded that Egypt block weapons smuggling into Gaza. Israel's main concern about the current truce is that Hamas will use it to rearm. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he believed Egypt was devoting more energy to destroying the passageways, but also said Hamas was exploiting the calm to strengthen its military wing.
    Earlier this month, five smugglers were killed when Egypt blew up a tunnel exit, suffocating them inside. An Egyptian border official said authorities destroy about a tunnel a day.
    In early August, Egyptian border troops uncovered a 2,400-foot underground pipeline used to smuggle fuel into Gaza. Black market fuel has been a lucrative product in Gaza since Israel began reducing supplies to the territory to pressure militants to halt their fire at Israeli border communities.
    Tunnel traders, meanwhile, say Egyptian efforts to destroy tunnels might delay shipments but won't halt them _ smugglers can quickly dig new tunnel entrances by branching out from the main passage.
    It's unlikely overland transport will soon replace the subterranean traffic. Hamas says a full opening of Gaza's border crossings must be part of any truce deal, but Israel refuses until there is progress in talks on the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006.
    Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, says tunnels can't provide a solution to Gaza's woes.
    "A tunnel can bring in a mobile phone, but it can't bring in raw materials," such as cement, building materials, gasoline and other fuel, which are all in short supply, said Abu Zuhr. "Because of that Gaza is paralyzed."
    But zoo manager Fayiz praises the smugglers' ingenuity.
    "It's just a matter of time until they make a tunnel an elephant can walk through," he said.
    ______
    Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam contributed to this report from Rafah, Egypt.

Gaza Fulbright scholars appeal to US to reissue entry visas for studies

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Three Fulbright scholars from Gaza appealed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday to reissue their entry visas, denying they were security threats.
    The three were initially issued with entry visas to pursue their Fulbright scholarships after a months-long diplomatic tussle between the State Department and Israel.
    But the students' entry visas were suddenly canceled after U.S. officials said they received new information suggesting the three were security threats. Israeli and U.S. officials would not give details of the new information.
    "We do not understand why, and we do not understand what changed," Zuheir Abu Shaban, a 23-year-old graduate of engineering, wrote to Rice on behalf of the group. He denied he and his colleagues were security threats.
    In May, U.S. officials revoked the Fulbright scholarships of seven Gazans because of an Israeli ban on residents leaving Gaza except for urgent humanitarian cases, imposed after Hamas overran the territory in June last year.
    As part of its blockade against the Hamas regime in Gaza, Israel does not allow Gaza residents to leave the territory except in urgent humanitarian cases, although it has modified its policy to allow some students with scholarships from Western universities to leave.
    After Rice became involved, three students were able their scholarship studies abroad.
    Israel refused to issue entry permits to another four students _ including the three Fulbright scholars _ to allow them to reach the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. Instead, U.S. officials traveled to the Israel-Gaza border in July to process their visa applications.
    "We are asking your help and your intervention again," Abu Shaban wrote to Rice. "We just want the chance to study."

Hamas official warns group could take over West Bank from Fatah if provoked

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ A senior Hamas official warned Tuesday the militant group that took over Gaza a year ago could also overrun the West Bank if it is provoked by rival Fatah.
    Tensions between the Palestinian factions remained high after a bombing last week that killed five Hamas members in Gaza, which was blamed on Fatah. A Hamas sweep in Gaza over the weekend left 11 dead and dozens injured, most of them from Fatah.
    The Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told The Associated Press that Fatah, which rules the West Bank, should expect "an uprising" against them if they continued a crackdown against Hamas there.
    As the conflict has intensified, Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank have rounded up dozens of political opponents and there have been growing reports of beatings and mistreatment of detainees by both sides.
    Abu Zuhri said the crackdown on Hamas would not break the movement, but would bring "the opposite result."
    "It will lead to what will appear like an uprising against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank," he warned. Abu Zuhri said his movement was not actively planning for a military takeover, but it was an option.
    "If arrests continue, they will lead to unforeseen responses, whether from resistance fighters or the people," he said.
    Abu Zuhri's interview with The AP reflected Hamas' increasingly tough stance toward Fatah after it routed the Fatah-linked Hilles clan in Gaza City over the weekend.
    The Hamas sweep underscored the group's tight control over Gaza.
    A West Bank Fatah official responded that Hamas was issuing empty threats.
    "If they can do anything, let them do it. We are not afraid," said Fahmi Zaarir, a spokesman for Fatah in the West Bank.
    After Hamas expelled Fatah forces from Gaza in June 2007, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah set up a rival government in the West Bank.
    Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintains a large military presence and overall security control in the West Bank.

Hamas says it `uprooted' last Fatah stronghold in Gaza as clansmen get exile in West Bank

By KARIN LAUB and DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writers

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Hamas claimed Monday to have "uprooted" the last major pocket of armed resistance to its 14-month rule in the Gaza Strip, saying it seized mortars, grenade launchers and other weapons from a once powerful clan allied with the rival Fatah movement.
    Dozens of members of the Hilles clan were being held by the Islamic militants of Hamas, while dozens more who fled to Israel to avoid capture during weekend fighting were given asylum Monday in the Fatah-ruled West Bank.
    In a small sign of defiance, Hilles families sent children outdoors wrapped in bright yellow Fatah flags, saying they hoped the sight would annoy Hamas fighters patrolling the neighborhood on foot and in pickup trucks.
    Saturday's attack on the Hilles stronghold in Gaza City's Shijaiyeh neighborhood, which killed 11 people and wounded dozens, marked a fresh setback for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of Fatah.
    Abbas' leadership in the West Bank already was weakened by his failure to win concessions from Israel in peace talks. The defeat of the Hilles clan, one of Fatah's last high-profile bastions in Gaza, underscored Hamas' tight control in the coastal territory seized by its fighters in bloody fighting last year.
    Abbas still has a base of support in Gaza, including tens of thousands who draw government salaries from the West Bank, but the movement has been stripped of offices, media outlets and, most importantly, its armed forces.
    Islam Shahwan, spokesman for Hamas police, said in an interview that the weekend raid _ the bloodiest Hamas-Fatah fighting since the Gaza takeover _ sent a "clear message to all concerned."
    "We do believe this was the last stronghold in Gaza," he said, referring to potential Hamas opponents among the territory's myriad clans. "This stronghold had to be uprooted."
    Shahwan said that more than 100 Hilles men had been detained and that Hamas forces seized a large weapons stockpile, including mortars, assault rifles, land mines and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
    The Hilles clan, native to Gaza and one of the largest in the territory, has thousands of members. About 4,000 live in the Shijaiyeh area, close to Israel's heavily guarded border with Gaza.
    More than 180 clansmen ran toward Israeli positions Saturday afternoon when it became clear Hamas was about to take control of the neighborhood. After some delays, in part because of Hamas fire toward the border, Israel let in the fugitives, including wounded men.
    A two-day odyssey ensued, with Abbas wavering whether he should allow the refugees to settle in the West Bank. He ruled out the idea Sunday, arguing Fatah needed to maintain a presence in Gaza and could not abandon the territory to Hamas.
    More than 30 Hilles men were sent back to Gaza, and Hamas immediately arrested about half of them. Fearing Hamas retribution, a dozen in that group _ still wearing the dark blue coveralls given them by Israeli troops _ stayed in an Israeli-controlled buffer zone just inside Gaza.
    The Israeli army then decided those returning to Gaza would face imminent danger and said Hilles men should not be sent back against their will.
    In the end, 92 Hilles men, including the 12 who waited at the border, were taken to the West Bank town of Jericho on Monday. Sixty others went back to Gaza voluntarily, 16 remained in Israeli hospitals and 13 were in Israeli custody, the Israeli military said.
    After nightfall Monday, more Hilles refugees arrived at an Israeli checkpoint on the outskirts of Jericho. Dressed in training pants and white undershirts, they were searched and then handed over to Palestinian intelligence officers in Jericho.
    Sufian Abu Zaydeh, a Gaza native and former Palestinian Cabinet minister from Fatah, said the forced exile of the Fatah supporters was a sign of Gaza's desperation.
    "When a man stands between two choices: to be killed by his people or to be arrested by his enemy, and he reaches a conclusion that it is better to be arrested by his enemy, it shows you how cruel the situation is in Gaza," he told Israel's Army Radio.
    In the Shijaiyeh district, the weekend fighting left some of the clan members' homes in shambles. Residents showed reporters two homes they claimed were ransacked by Hamas police.
    Clothes were strewn on the floor, china cabinets knocked over, TV screens shot through with bullets, and glass tables and windows smashed. Several women showed ripped photographs of loved ones and said computers, money and gold jewelry were stolen. One home had "Al Qassam special unit" scrawled across the wall in spray paint, a reference to Hamas' armed wing.
    Shahwan, the Hamas police spokesman, said complaints of theft would be investigated. He argued that outsiders could have come in to steal from the homes during the chaos of fighting.
    Hamas declared the raided neighborhood a closed military zone and barred photographers and camera crews from taking pictures. Shahwan said the ban was for the safety of journalists, saying Hamas police were still searching the area for explosives.
    The rising tensions between Hamas and Fatah were triggered by a July 25 bombing at a Gaza City beach hut where Hamas activists were holding a picnic. The blast killed five Hamas men and a 6-year-old girl.
    Since then, both Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank have rounded up dozens of political opponents, amid growing reports of beatings and mistreatment of detainees by both sides.
    Hani Busbus, a political analyst in Gaza, said Fatah cannot be written off completely in the Gaza Strip.
    "There's still around 30 to 40 percent of Gazans who support Fatah," he said. "On the ground, Fatah will be smaller: It doesn't have it's security strongholds, a military wing, and it doesn't have any activities or institutions. But ideologically, the movement is still here."
    ___
    Associated Press Writer Dalia Nammari in Jericho, West Bank, contributed to this report.