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Palestinian Militias Train as Internal Conflict Brews

(Ha'aretz) Arnon Regular - "The PLO, Fatah fighters camp, Alasifa forces," southwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, adjacent to an elementary school, serves as a training camp for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing. The area is surrounded by barbed-wire fencing, and masked men armed with Kalashnikov rifles and two-way radios keep a 24-hour watch on vehicles passing close by. The masked men are members of Hamas' military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam. In the northern corner of the area sit five mobile structures belonging to Palestinian military intelligence. Gaza today looks like a powder keg that could be set off by the slightest spark, leading to a massive clash between Hamas and Fatah. Ever since Hamas won the Palestinian elections, and even more so since it formed a government, its activists and those from Fatah have been doing their utmost to recruit the street for the developing conflict. Dozens of locations in Gaza have seen training camps sprout up in recent weeks like mushrooms after the rain. Activists from Hamas, Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Resistance Committees, Islamic Jihad, and other local groups are taking over land that is not privately owned and are setting up training camps. Every camp is almost immediately mirrored nearby by a similar installation by another group. One such camp, belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees, was the target of an Israel Air Force strike on Friday that killed six people.
2006-04-10 00:00:00
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