The Gaza Strip has recently witnessed unprecedented bloody fighting
between Hamas and Fatah movement, which has peaked with Hamas’
decision to show down the conflict militarily and the takeover of all
Palestinian security headquarters and sites and the seizure of
complete control over the Gaza Strip by its military wing - Izziddin
al-Qassam Brigades. This fighting has taken the lives of 146
Palestinians (36 of them are civilians), including 5 children and 8
women, and has wounded at least 700 others.
According to PCHR’s documentation and observations, the latest armed
conflict between the two movements has been accompanied by grave
breaches of the provisions of international law related to internal
armed conflicts, especially the common article 3 of the Geneva
Conventions of 1949. According to this article, each party to an armed
conflict not of an international character is bound, as a minimum, to
treat persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including
members of armed forces who have laid down their arms, humanely. It
also prohibits "violence to life and person, in particular murder of
all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; taking of
hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating
and degrading treatment; and the passing of sentences and the carrying
out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly
constituted court." It further calls for treating the wounded and
patients humanely.
In violations of these international standards, the bloody fighting
was accompanied by many cases of willful killings and extra-judicial
executions, and firing at combatants after capturing them. According
to eyewitnesses, a number of the wounded were killed inside hospitals,
and mutual kidnappings and torture of persons affiliated, or suspected
to be, to a party of the conflict, were reported. Unarmed civilians
were also the victim of fighting between the two parties, although
they were often committed to their homes. Additionally, the status of
civilian places, including houses and tower apartment buildings, which
were used in the fighting between the two parties, were not respected.
As a consequence, the suffering of civilians doubled, especially as
they were forcibly placed in combat areas. Many casualties were
reported among civilians, including women and children.
Additionally, the access of medical crews and fire fighters to combat
areas to evacuate the wounded and extinguish fire was severely
restricted (see PCHR’s press releases during and the after the
fighting).
As Hamas has taken over security headquarters and sites and has seized
complete control over the Gaza Strip, Palestinian President Mahoud
Abbas issued 3 decrees on Thursday evening, 14 June, dismissing Prime
Minister Ismail Haniya; declaring a state of emergency in all
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) controlled areas; and forming a
government to enforce the state of emergency. On 17 June, President
Abbas issued another two decrees, one suspending the enforcement of
articles 65, 66 and 67 of the Basic Law (the temporary constitution of
the PNA), and the other one outlawing the Executive Force (formed by
the Ministry of Interior in 2006) and Hamas’ militias "because of
their insurrection against the Palestinian legitimacy and its
institutions..."
In response, Israel has closed all border crossings with the Gaza
Strip, halting all commercial transactions of the strip. Subsequently,
Palestinian civilians have rushed to shops, bakeries and fuel stations
to buy their basic needs, in the wake of expectations of a possible
humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Rafah International Crossing
Point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which is the sole outlet for
the Gaza Strip to the outside world that has been partially operated
for nearly one year due to Israeli measures, has been also closed.
Parallel to the incidents in Gaza, supporters of Fatah movement in the
West Bank have carried out a series of retaliatory attacks against
members, supporters and institutions of Hamas. Such attacks have
targeted health and cultural associations, charities, press offices,
television and radio stations, sports clubs and some local councils,
which have been run by Hamas following local elections. According to
PCHR’s documentation, at least 50 public and private institutions have
been attacked; 3 persons, including a child, have been killed; and at
least 60 persons have been kidnapped since Wednesday, 13 June 2007.
In light of these accelerating developments in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT), especially in the Gaza Strip, PCHR
stresses the following:
– PCHR condemns using military means to show down the conflict
between Hamas and Fatah movements, particularly the decision to show
down the conflict militarily and the takeover of Palestinian security
headquarters and sites in the Gaza Strip by the Izziddin al-Qassam
Brigades. Although PCHR is aware of the legitimacy of the government
and its right to fully have its constitutional powers, and conscious
of the security problems that preceded and the urgent need to reform
the security establishment, there is nojustification for the
employment of Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades in the military showdown and
takeover of the security establishment as this does not serve in any
means the calls for reforming the security establishment.
– Steps taken by President Mahmoud Abbas in response violate the
Basic Law and undermines it in a manner that is not less dangerous
than what is happening in Gaza, especially as:
A. The President has the right to declare a state of emergency and to
dissolve the government in accordance with Chapter 7 of the Basic Law,
but according to the Law, the dissolved government shall serve as an
acting government until the formation of a new government that must be
approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
B. The Basic Law does not give the President any authority, even
during a state of emergency, to suspend the enforcement of any
provision of this Law concerning the PLC’s authority to grant
confidence to the government, and he does not have the authority to
dissolve or interrupt the work of the PLC during the period of
emergency (article 113). This Law is superior to all laws, from which
all powers, including those of the President and Prime Minister, are
derived, and it must not be undermined or suspended in all
circumstances.
– Steps taken by the President are likely to complicate the crisis
rather than solving it. They will even lead to further isolation of
the Gaza Strip and take its 1.5-million population to the unknown,
subjecting them to international sanctions. There are also concerns of
a de facto political situation, in which the Gaza Strip may be cut
from the rest of the OPT.
– The current crisis in the PNA is a political rather than a
constitutional or legal one. So, there is no alternative to dialogue
based on real partnership, respect for the results of the legislative
elections that were held in January 2006, and putting the interests of
the Palestinian people above all narrow factional interests of the
conflicting parties.
– In the context of this aspired dialogue, it is important to stress
the need to reconstruct the Palestinian security establishment on
professional and national foundations, to ensure its independence and
not to push it into any hideous factional conflicts to be able to
carry out its constitutional duties to defend the homeland, serve the
people, protect the society, and ensure security and public order.
– The only party that benefits from the continuation of the current
crisis is Israel and its occupation forces, which continue to create
new facts on the ground, especially in the West Bank, through the
construction of the Annexation Wall and settlements to undermine any
possibility of establishing a viable, independent Palestinian state
within the OPT.
– The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been
deteriorating due to the Israeli siege and the suspension of
international aid to the PNA, will further deteriorate with the
closure of all border crossings and the halting of all economic
transactions.
– The current Palestinian crisis is a new Nakba (in reference to the
dispersion of the Palestinian people in 1948) that would grow if not
immediately stopped, in light of expectations of more economic and
social strangleholds and concerns of massive immigration from the Gaza
Strip. So, all Palestinian political factions and civil society groups
must bear the historical responsibility to end this crisis and prevent
this new Nakba, which have been made by us on the 59th anniversary of
the Palestinian Nakba of 1948.
– The international community and Arab States are invited to take
immediate steps to prevent the catastrophe through pressurizing for
holding a political dialogue between Hamas and Fatah movement, as well
as all other political factions, to end this crisis which threatens
the PNA and the whole Palestinian people.