Outside, in the yards of what used to be Abbas' Gaza office, the black-bearded Captain Jehad Saidam was instructing a group of trainees with powerful voice. "We are doing this to maintain the internal Palestinian front," said the drillmaster.

After seizing control of Gaza by force in 2007, Hamas sought to send students to learn in police colleges around the world. Dealing only with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' authority, the international community and the Arab world refused to admit the Islamic movement's cadets.

As a result, Hamas decided to establish its own police and security science college in Gaza, using the abandoned headquarter of a satellite channel affiliated to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for class lectures.

Ibraheem Habib, Deputy Dean of the college, says the educational institute is the first of its kind in the Gaza Strip. However, only the deposed Hamas government and its departments recognize the bachelor's degree the college grants.

"In a four-year course, students learn legal and police science. In the future, we will develop the course's duration to three years," Habib said. "At the first phases of study, students enjoy lectures and physical training."

In the future, the college will communicate with its counterparts outside Gaza through video-conference, according to Habib, who did not reveal which colleges would accept to cooperate with the Hamas-run academy. "European and Arab specialists would lecture on legal and police science over the video-conference system," he says.

Studying in the Hamas' college costs each student 300 Jordanian Dinar (US$425) per semester. However, the students do not have to pay for the eight semesters during study years as fees would be deducted from their salaries once they graduate and start work.

Unlike many other police institutions, the cadets, who by the way must be single and no older than 23, are allowed to grow beards. It is believed that most of the students have been active under Hamas' military wing like the majority of Hamas government's 10,000 security personnel.

Mohammed Majed, a student, explained why he decided to enroll in the college. "I was able to join any other university but I wanted the police college because I like security and like to develop the police in this place."

Israel imposes a blockade on the Gaza Strip in a bid to weaken Hamas' rule and routinely raid Gaza's southern border, saying that Hamas uses tunnels under the border to smuggle arms to Gaza. Israel also accuses Hamas of sending its commanders frequently to Iran to receive training.

Habib, however, denies any link between Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas and the college. "The college belongs to the government that Prime Minister Ismail Haneya leads," he says.

President Abbas sacked the Hamas-led government under ex-premier Ismail Haneya after the Islamic movement took control of Gaza. Haneya, however, rejected the decision and kept ruling in Gaza while Abbas' authority remained confined to the West Bank.

Hamas' announcement of establishing the college a few months ago was criticized by observers who said such move hardens Egyptian-led efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah and restore political unity to the Palestinian territories.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2009)