After completing two years ruling Gaza, Palestinian observers believe that Hamas has succeeded to provide an unexpected state of security, but some said the security was achieved at the expense of other vital necessities.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) argues that restoring order and ending wide-spread lawlessness was one of many other reasons motivated them to take over the Gaza Strip and drive out their secular rivals of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah.

Undisputed security

"Hamas, through its government, served the people and was able to impose security and fight corruption which built up in the former authority," said Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official.

Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman for Hamas security ministry, said his movement had forcibly fought pro-Abbas forces "due to attempted coups against the tenth unity government, led by Hamas." That government lasted only three months and was the first attempt to share power between Hamas and Fatah since the Islamic movement won 2006 parliamentary elections.

Before June 14, 2007, there were 12 security services "their solo goal was to support anarchy." Now, a force of 14,000 strong --barely a quarter of the Fatah-led troops -- "succeeded to provide undisputed safety and security to the people," al-Ghussein said.

Hamas' program of change and reform "have not succeed and did not offer anything to the Palestinian people," said Talal Oukal, journalism lecturer at al-Zahar university, though he acknowledged that Hamas "had imposed security in Gaza."

Oukal makes equal that Hamas' anti-Israel method and Fatah's peaceful policy towards Israel "have failed and the Palestinians paid high prices in the shadow of this split," referring to the lose of political ties between the Palestinian territories which have been divided for Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank.

"Any further measures can not be considered achievements under the rift," Oukal concluded, reminding of high poverty and employment rates due to Israeli blockade imposed as soon as Hamas captured the territory.

For Khalil Abu Shamala, a human rights activist, Hamas was not directly responsible for the deterioration of Gazans. "Israel and the international community are to blame due to the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip because of Hamas' rule."

Invest closure

With Hamas, the radical movement sworn to Israel's destruction, holding sway in Gaza, the Jewish state maintains a blockade the US backs in a bid to isolate or weaken Hamas.

The embargo prevented Hamas from "providing the big services to our people," according to Radwan. "The siege prevents people from reposing."

Abu Shamala, the director of al-Dameer association for human rights, said the siege had made Hamas' governing "an incomplete experience that can not be objectivity or professionally judged."

On the other hand, Hamas' endurance over the past couple of years made the blockade unable to undermine the Islamic movement. "Hamas became a hard party that can not be exceeded under any local, regional or international equation," Radwan says.

Mukhaimar Abu Sa'da, political science professor in al-Azhar university, said "It seems that the Israeli policy of siege did not bear fruit. Instead, it depended Hamas' power and sometimes raised Hamas' public support."

He adds that Hamas had invested the siege "to consolidate its rule over all security and civil aspects of the Gaza Strip, including municipalities and the NGO organizations through its security regime."

As the international community notes that Hamas remained strong despite the siege, Radwan said, Western countries "started holding direct contacts with Hamas" which is classified by the US and most of the European countries as a terrorist organization.

According to Oukal, the analyst, if the current de facto status remind in place for another two years, the world may find no way but to lift the blockade and deals with Hamas.

Hamas secures fund from the high taxes it imposes on every economic activity in addition to cash brought from abroad via secret tunnels beneath Gaza-Egypt border.

Absence of freedom

Fatah, which is now dominant in the West Bank, accuses Hamas of committing abuses in Gaza and ruling the impoverished territory with an iron fist.

"Hamas' procedures in Gaza, during and after the coup, were a series of repressing the personal and collective freedoms of the Gazans and also the political rights of the factions," said Fehmi al-Za'arier, a Fatah spokesman.

Abu Shamala agrees that "the state of human cultural, economic and social rights have worsened," blaming Hamas-Fatah feud for this.

"Hamas wants everything to be done through it, including aid that is sent to a charity for example," Abu Shamala explains.

Fadel Abu Hien, a well-known Palestinian sociologist, also agreed that the human rights are violated in Gaza. "The people are afraid from punishment, oppression and humiliation and that is why they don't express their opposition" to the worsening situation.

Radwan rejects the accusations, saying that Hamas grants "a full space of freedom to all people, including Fatah." But he says this freedom "ends when some anarchy-seekers use it to carry out blasts to shake the internal security of Gaza."

On the issue of Fatah's freedom, Hamas' procedures on the ground, including killings of rivals, contradict with Radwan's remarks.

During Israel's major offensive in Gaza in January, human rights groups accused Hamas of killing tens of its opponents, especially Fatah people, and collaborators with Israel and maiming hundreds of others.

Khalil Abu Shamala adds that Hamas also "imposed house arrest on Fatah members and violated the right of movement, including passport confiscations, as part of reacting to Fatah."

After all, Hamas "is not sorry for what it had done in 2007," according to Ihab al-Ghussein. Al-Za'arier of Fatah said his movement will not allow Hamas even to think of taking over the West Bank. The statements by both indicate how difficult Egypt is facing in its attempt to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah in July.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)