Hamas, the political faction in Palestine that has controlled the Gaza Strip for two weeks now after an uprising against its rival, the more secular-minded Fatah faction, has asserted that while there are still concerns
about more sectarian violence in Gaza and Palestine, it has taken control, reports Reuters.
"We are fully in control at the moment. But people are still in shock. There may be sleeper cells. We will try to abort every crime in its cradle," Abu Mahmoud, deputy commander of the Islamist movement's security arm, told Reuters.
However, Mahmoud's Executive Force numbers only 6000 in a region which up until a couple of weeks ago had 40,000 Fatah troops to keep law and order in Gaza.
But, many people are saying that Hamas is far stricter and more disciplined in its enforcement of the law, especially the religious-based law, even to the point of being too harsh. The feared and expected food crisis after Israel sealed its borders and would not allow shipments into our out of Gaza after the "coup" has not come to pass, either.
In this feeling of control, Hamas on Saturday rejected Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' call for an international peace keeping force to be deployed in Gaza.
Abbas has set up an emergency cabinet in the West Bank of Palestine, where Fatah and Israeli forces are far more powerful. Abbas' new government does not have any members of Hamas on its staff. Hamas is viewed by Israel and the West as a terrorist organization, and it does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Fatah desires a permanent peace treaty with Israel and is backed by the West and welcomed by Israel.
Abbas told French President Nicolas Sarkozy, while he was visiting Paris on Friday, that he wanted to have an international peacekeeping force deployed in the Gaza Strip to minimize tensions and facilitate new elections to re-unite Palestine.
"We will not allow any foreign forces to step a foot into the Gaza Strip and we will deal with them as occupation forces. We will only receive these forces with shells and rockets," Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades told Reuters.
"We are fully in control at the moment. But people are still in shock. There may be sleeper cells. We will try to abort every crime in its cradle," Abu Mahmoud, deputy commander of the Islamist movement's security arm, told Reuters.
However, Mahmoud's Executive Force numbers only 6000 in a region which up until a couple of weeks ago had 40,000 Fatah troops to keep law and order in Gaza.
But, many people are saying that Hamas is far stricter and more disciplined in its enforcement of the law, especially the religious-based law, even to the point of being too harsh. The feared and expected food crisis after Israel sealed its borders and would not allow shipments into our out of Gaza after the "coup" has not come to pass, either.
In this feeling of control, Hamas on Saturday rejected Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' call for an international peace keeping force to be deployed in Gaza.
Abbas has set up an emergency cabinet in the West Bank of Palestine, where Fatah and Israeli forces are far more powerful. Abbas' new government does not have any members of Hamas on its staff. Hamas is viewed by Israel and the West as a terrorist organization, and it does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Fatah desires a permanent peace treaty with Israel and is backed by the West and welcomed by Israel.
Abbas told French President Nicolas Sarkozy, while he was visiting Paris on Friday, that he wanted to have an international peacekeeping force deployed in the Gaza Strip to minimize tensions and facilitate new elections to re-unite Palestine.
"We will not allow any foreign forces to step a foot into the Gaza Strip and we will deal with them as occupation forces. We will only receive these forces with shells and rockets," Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades told Reuters.
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