Palestinian Authority freezes bank accounts as crackdown on Hamas begins

News, August 2003, www.aljazeerah.info

Jordan Times, Friday-Saturday, August 29-30, 2003

GAZA CITY (AFP) — The Palestinian leadership began a crackdown on Hamas Thursday, freezing bank accounts of charities linked to the Islamist group and firing at activists who launched rockets deep into Israel. A homemade Qassam rocket struck the outskirts of the major port city of Ashkelon just a few hours after Hamas political leader Abdul Aziz Al Rantissi dismissed an appeal by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to call a new truce.

No-one was injured in the strike, on wasteland near a brewery, but it was the first time an improvised rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had reached so far into Israel.

Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the attack had “upped the ante.” He said it was proof that groups such as Hamas had exploited a now defunct ceasefire to improve the range of their weaponry.

An Israeli security source said it was the 14th Qassam rocket to be fired at Israel in the past six days.

Three Israeli tanks and two bulldozers later crossed several hundred metres into an autonomous zone of Gaza from where the rocket had been fired. A security source said they were destroying trees used as cover for the attack.

The Israelis have consistently accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to take on the activists, even in the aftermath of a massive suicide bomb in occupied Jerusalem that killed 21 people last week.

The Israelis handed over control of most of Gaza to the Palestinians nearly two months ago, but only after receiving security guarantees.

Palestinian police said they had tried to arrest a group of Hamas activists who had fired homemade missiles at Israel but they managed to flee in a car.

Hamas' relations with the Palestinian government now appear to be at an all-time low after six Islamic charities, including one founded by the movement's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, had their accounts frozen.

Rantissi said the government had cracked “after pressure from the Americans and the Zionists.” Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr denied that the move was specifically targeted at Hamas, saying all groups would be made to respect the law.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad called off a seven-week-old truce last week in the aftermath of the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.

The truce had already been effectively wrecked by the Jerusalem bus bomb.

Arafat said in a statement Wednesday that a renewal of the truce would “give a chance to all peaceful international efforts for the implementation of the roadmap,” in reference to the US-backed peace plan.

But Rantissi said: “We cannot speak about a truce while aggression against the Palestinian people continues.”

Israel also dismissed the appeal by Arafat, accusing the veteran leader of urging militant factions to continue their attacks during the truce.

“The appeal by Arafat is totally irrelevant. What he says has no interest for us as during the so-called ceasefire he was pushing the terrorist organisations to carry out attacks against Israel,” senior government spokesman Avi Pazner told AFP.

The roadmap — sponsored by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — was launched in Jordan nearly three months ago but has made scant progress so far.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov held talks with Abbas here Thursday as well as with Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath as part of diplomatic efforts to save the project.

EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana was also due to arrive in Israel on Friday ahead of expected talks with Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz.

Meanwhile in the West Bank town of Nablus, hospital sources said at least 13 Palestinians had been injured in “clashes” with Israeli forces.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info