HOLY LAND - UMMAH: HAMAS MARAUDING THROUGHOUT GAZA

Gaza Islamists uproot statue for Arab dead
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, June 17 (Reuters) - Radical Islamists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip destroyed a cement statue, long considered a symbol of Palestinian hopes for statehood, because they see the depiction as a violation of strict religious laws.

A Hamas security source said those who attacked the statue were members of the so-called radical Salaf group, which abides by strict religious edicts. "The whole issue is under investigation. We do not agree with what happened," the Hamas security source said.

The presence of radical Islamist groups in Gaza has grown recently. Some say they follow the lead of al Qaeda.

The Islamists also ransacked the house of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, during a looting spree that followed Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last week after days of bloody fighting with the secular Fatah faction.

Hamas denied Arafat's house and belongings had been "touched".

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After Hamas’s bloody triumph, showdown with Israel looms
The Palestinian civil war is about to become a wider conflict
by Uzi Mahnaimi

THROUGH the heat haze, the sounds of shots and screams carried to the desperate men holed up inside a great white building in Gaza City.

This was the American-built headquarters of the Office of General Security, a “moderate” Palestinian intelligence service charged with tracking and curbing the activities of Hamas extremists in an attempt to bring stability to Gaza and pave the way to peace.

Sweating, terrified, gabbling into their dying mobile phones to the outside world, the hunters were now the besieged.

Nearby, neighbours cowered in their high-rise flats overlooking the deceptive calm of the Mediterranean. They cringed at the din of mortar shells and blasts of machinegun fire. They could tell, after years of grim experience, that these were not the usual amateurish volleys let off by teenage gunmen. It was regular, disciplined shooting.

A meticulous plan, drawn up by Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, with tactical guidance from their Iranian mentors, was being put into action, and to devastating effect.

It was designed to defeat, once and for all, Fatah, the secular Palestinian nationalist party that talked peace with Israel. And it worked with lightning speed in a fratricidal three-day war in which at least 116 people died.

Inside the security headquarters, Abu Fadi, a Fatah intelligence officer, could hear what was happening to his colleagues. Their masked attackers had sprinted in, heedless of casualties. Their doors had been kicked down and they had been dragged outside, their arms flailing in gestures imploring mercy.

Then the black-masked gunmen bowed their heads to the dust in prayer and separated those of their foes who might live from those about to die.

The victims were killed immediately, some in front of their wives and children, said a Palestinian witness hiding in a building overlooking the scene.

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Arafat's Nobel Prize, Suha's gowns looted
by Rohee Nahmias

Hamas gunmen who destroyed late PA chairman's Gaza house did not spare prestigious award he won, as well as garments left behind by his widow.

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West Bank men shaving beards to avoid Fatah arrests
by Ali Waked

Fatah may have lost Gaza but is fighting in West Bank, arresting some 150 Hamas members throughout the region. Merchants in Qalqiliya have already decided to shave their beards to avoid religious appearance associated with Hamas. West Bank Hamas councilman: 'Hamas in Gaza has forgotten its brothers here' .

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Gazans Try to Reach Israel Via Tunnel
By DIAA HADID

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Jamal Abu Zayda waited 15 hours in the Erez crossing, a narrow tunnel with high walls, jostling with thieves, panicked women and crying babies before reaching Israel early Sunday.

By just getting out of the tunnel, he was one of the lucky ones.

A fluent Hebrew speaker with excellent relations with Israeli officials, Abu Zayda stood a good chance of getting out of Gaza, now ruled by Hamas militants. As a former senior security official from Fatah, he feared he'd been put on a Hamas death list.

Although there is a general amnesty for most Fatah fighters, who lost a five-day battle with Hamas militias, the Muslim group has vowed to kill those they believe have blood on their hands.

Many officials are still trapped inside the narrow concrete-walled corridor. Like Abu Zayda, they fear returning to Gaza, but Israel won't let them in.

Hundreds of others in the tunnel hope to get a break into the West Bank. Their lives aren't at risk, they just don't want to live under Hamas rule.

"It's hell in there," Abu Zayda said from the Israeli side of the crossing. "They should give themselves up to Hamas _ it's better than staying in the tunnel."

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Pertinent Links:

1) Gaza Islamists uproot statue for Arab dead

2) After Hamas’s bloody triumph, showdown with Israel looms

3) Arafat's Nobel Prize, Suha's gowns looted

4) West Bank men shaving beards to avoid Fatah arrests

5) Gazans Try to Reach Israel Via Tunnel