Roundup: Fear of security chaos grows in Gaza after series of lawless incidents

The growing number of lawless incidents, which occurred recently in the Gaza Strip, has mounted fears of leading to an organized chaos, which might be ignited by deep internal and external feuds, according to Palestinian observers and rights activists.

Over the past three months, significant incidents of security lawlessness, such as bombing homes, cars and offices, attacking and severely injuring people after kidnapping them, occurred in the Gaza Strip, while security apparatuses have so far failed to unveil the identity of the attackers.

Such incidents are unprecedented in the Gaza Strip, mainly since Islamic Hamas movement had violently seized control of the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007 after weeks-long internal fighting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.

The security issue remained the most significant excuse of Hamas to keep its security grip on the enclave to succeed its experience in ruling the territory. However, security deterioration grew one month after the first unity government was formed last June, which aimed at ending seven years of internal split.

Officials in the Gaza ministry of interior, which is still controlled by Hamas, said that such incidents of lawlessness "are just security violations and can never be considered as incidents of lawlessness that would lead to a serious security chaos."

"The security apparatuses in Gaza exert every possible effort to prevent such violations to occur and we will soon unveil the identity of those who are standing behind it," said Iyad al-Bozom, spokesman of the Gaza ministry of interior. "We will then take the needed legal measures against them."

He said there are reasons behind having such kind of security violations. "The Gaza Strip suffers from exceptional circumstances amid absence of a real role of the unity government, having no reference for the security apparatuses, a lack of budget and a tight Israeli siege."

"The security situation in the Gaza Strip is under a full control and we will never ever accept a return of a security chaos to the territory whatever the circumstances are," said al-Bozom, although the recent incidents left large fear among the populations that more security chaos would prevail in Gaza.

In November, around 13 successive explosions were heard in the Gaza Strip, where houses, offices and cars of leaders and officials in Abbas Fatah Party were targeted. The attacks obliged the Fatah officials to annul a rally that was organized to commemorate late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's anniversary.

Besides bombing Fatah officials properties, the Gaza-based French Cultural Center was bombed twice, bank ATM machines were bombed and several vehicles of both Fatah and Hamas leaders were also bombed. Anonymous Gaza militants attacked conferences and meetings organized by Fatah Party.

Several institutions that sponsor the families of prisoners and wounded Palestinians were also burned and destroyed, where a journalist, a doctor and a former security officer were kidnapped, severely beaten and thrown near Gaza hospital in darkness.

The security apparatuses that belong to the Hamas-controlled interior ministry has so far failed to unveil the identity of the people who are behind these incidents although the ministry has been all the time reiterating that it investigates the incidents, but no results so far.

Adnan Abu Aamer, political science professor of the Gaza-based al-Ommah university, told Xinhua that although Hamas had left the government and announced that it handed it over to the new unity government, but it still fully controls security in the Gaza Strip.

"The disability of the security apparatuses of Hamas to put an end to these incidents explains a Hamas regret of keeping its grip on the territory as it used to do before," said Abu Aamer, adding that "therefore, I believe that this would lead to more incidents of lawlessness."

He went on saying that there could be another possibility that Hamas closes an eye for such incidents and doesn't exert any effort to arrest those who are standing behind it, in order to accuse the unity government for being unable to perform.

Since the formation of the unity government in June, Hamas and Fatah have been trading accusations. Fatah says Hamas doesn't want to handover security to the new government and Hamas says unity government ignores the Gaza Strip and refuses to rule it completely.

Talal Oukal, Gaza political analyst, told Xinhua that "the incidents of lawlessness in Gaza aim at exerting more pressure on the unity government to resolve the various political, social and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip." However, he added, "practically, Hamas is fully responsible for this situation."

The Gaza Strip has been passing through a severe humanitarian crisis due to the postponement of reconstructing the houses and the infrastructure destroyed by the last summer Israeli large scale offensive waged against the enclave, besides the horrible increase of rates of poverty and unemployment.

Mustafa Ibrahim, Gaza rights activist, told Xinhua that the resumption of such incidents of lawlessness "will need a clear explanation of Hamas rulers of security." He warned that the situation "would create an atmosphere for more radical groups to join the upcoming chaos." Endit