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Hamas, Fatah Militants Clash in Gaza    [

    Bush Signs Law Blocking Aid to Hamas
    Agence France-Presse

    Friday 22 December 2006

    US President George W. Bush signed a law banning US aid to Hamas, aiming to isolate the radical Islamic group which controls the Palestinian government but refuses to recognize Israel.

    The "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006," Bush said in a statement, is "designed to promote the development of democratic institutions in areas under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority."

    The law declares it the policy of the United States to avoid any contact with Hamas and other organizations Washington has labeled terrorist until they recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce terrorism, dismantle their militias and recognize and abide by previous agreements and understandings between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.

    While the text cites aid to the Palestinian Authority, it is targeted at Hamas, which won control of the authority in March 2006 following elections.

    It allows aid to continue to activities of Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah group has been in street battles with Hamas activists for the past two weeks.

    Washington wants to push Hamas into accepting Israel's right to exist as a basis for the "roadmap" plan for peace between the two sides.

    "This legislation reflects our continued concern over the failure of the current government to renounce violence and terror, recognize Israel, and respect its previous agreements and obligations," said a senior administration official.

    However, the official said current assistance programs to the Palestinian people will not be affected by the law.

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    Hamas, Fatah Militants Clash in Gaza
    By Diaa Hadid
    The Associated Press

    Friday 22 December 2006

    Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Fierce fighting between Hamas and Fatah militants in Gaza and the West Bank marred a shaky new truce Friday, and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blocked dozens of Hamas government appointments in an intensifying power struggle.

    A militant wounded in the Gaza fighting died Friday.

    The months-long wrangling for power between Abbas and Hamas turned increasingly violent after Abbas declared that efforts to form a more moderate coalition government with the militantly anti-Israel Islamic group had broken down, and he called for early elections - a move Hamas believes is tantamount to a coup.

    A street battle broke out early Friday in Gaza City, near Abbas' residence and the house of Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas. The fighting started after Hamas militiamen tried to free two members kidnapped late Thursday night by a Fatah-linked clan.

    The battle quickly spread out of control after bodyguards for several parliamentarians living in the same area assumed they were coming under attack. Within minutes, gunmen manning strategic rooftop positions began shooting at each other. They also launched several rocket-propelled grenades. Despite the intensity of the fighting, no one was wounded, health officials said.

    Residents of the weary neighborhood, the scene of other gunbattles over the week, said they put their children in bathtubs for protection against stray bullets.

    The violence died down after local mediators intervened.

    Elsewhere in Gaza, Hamas militants training on empty ground accidentally misfired a grenade, injuring two children, one who lost his eye, security officials said. The group had no comment.

    Adding to the tensions, Abbas blocked five major Hamas appointments to senior government positions. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas had accused Abbas of trying to subvert the government's authority by refusing to authorize the appointments.

    Adnan Amr, a legal adviser to Abbas, said the president rejected 40 appointments in all.

    Salah Bardawil, a Hamas lawmaker, said the senior appointments were knocked down by those in the president's office "who want a coup."

    Fighting also spilled over into the West Bank city of Nablus.

    About a dozen gunmen from Hamas and Fatah clashed near a soccer stadium where Hamas men were preparing for a rally on Friday. Palestinian hospital officials said six people were wounded. The battle took place in a residential area, and terrified residents huddled in their homes.

    One woman living close to the stadium, Tiham Tufah, said she hid with her husband and two daughters in their living room. "We can't leave the house or look out the window. We live in fear," Tufah said.

    Despite the battle between masked Hamas militants and Fatah gunmen in civilian clothing, about 4,000 people attended the rally, including veiled women from Hamas.

    The intensified Palestinian infighting has coincided with stepped-up rocket attacks on Israeli territory that have destabilized a monthlong cease-fire between militant factions and Israel.

    Two rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza on Friday. On Thursday, at least six rockets hit in Israel, one of them injuring a 2-year-old boy.

    A spokesman for militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fired rockets at Israel all week, said he hoped the move would show Hamas and Fatah "that their real enemy is Israel and not each other."

    Israeli officials say Palestinian militants have fired nearly 50 rockets since the Nov. 26 truce took effect. Israel has not retaliated, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned this week that his patience was wearing thin.