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World Jewish News
Human rights groups condemn bloody weekend violence in Gaza
16.08.2009
Palestinian human rights organizations on Sunday condemned bloody clashes between Hamas security forces and Al-Qaida-affiliated militants who seized control of a Gaza Strip mosque Friday night.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Gaza-based al-Damir for Human Rights called for an investigation into fighting between Hamas security forces and members of the Jihad al-Salafi group after the group's leader, Abdel-Latif Moussa, called for an Islamic emirate during his Friday sermon.
At least 24 people, including Moussa, were killed in the fighting, and at least 120 more wounded. According to some reports, six unarmed civilians were among the dead.
Al-Damir said the casualty toll was caused by the use of "fatal and excessive force by Hamas security forces, which were aided by its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades."
The PCHR likewise called for a probe into "the use of weapons, which led to such high...casualties."
Both groups also questioned the participation of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades in the fighting.
The PHCR said the Qassam Brigades could not be "a law-enforcement body. Its very involvement in the incident is an encroachment into the powers of the law enforcement bodies."
Al-Damir likewise said Gazan human rights groups have repeatedly asked Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip not to involve the movement's armed wing in maintaining domestic security.
The groups also criticized the Jihad al-Salafi, also known as the Warriors of God.
The PCHR said Moussa's declaration of an Islamic emirate "constituted... an assault against the rule of law."
It said it gave its "full support" to efforts to Hamas security forces' efforts to collect illegal weapons and to "combat aspects of security chaos and assaults against the rule of law."
But, the group said, these efforts had to be taken "in the framework of legal limits and respect for human rights and basic freedom."
The clashes Friday marked the bloodiest internecine Palestinian violence since June 2007, when Hamas gunmen routed security personnel loyal to the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, and took control of the Gaza Strip.
The interior minister of the Hamas administration in the Strip, Fathi Hamad, has accused "some security apparatus chiefs in the West Bank," who belong to the Fatah party, "of aiding the Jihad al-Salafi in order to weaken Hamas."
But the Jihad al-Salafi also bombed a shop last month belonging to Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah's former Gaza strongman.
The Jihad al-Salafi group involved in Friday's clashes is responsible for as spate of bombings in the Gaza Strip against coffee shops, hair salons, internet cafes and restaurants, a Hamas spokesman said.
It was also responsible for an attempt, two months ago, to use an explosives-laden horse to attack an Israeli army position.
Источник: Haaretz
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