Affrontements à Gaza – 15 mars 2011

Palestinian unity rally in Gaza ends in violence

reuters.com

Tue Mar 15, 2011

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Violence broke out after a rally for Palestinian unity in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday when Hamas supporters beat other participants with clubs, witnesses said, though the Islamist group denied being behind any violence.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians had answered a rallying call on Facebook to demonstrate in Gaza and the West Bank for reconciliation between Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas’s rival Fatah group.

About 2,000 demonstrators remained on the streets of Gaza as the rally wound down, defying calls to disperse by Hamas, which controls the territory. Hamas supporters then attacked the crowd, injuring at least a dozen people, witnesses said.

« They attacked us, 400 to 500 Hamas men in plain clothes. I was beaten with a club, many others were beaten, » said one activist, giving his first name Ali. « They dispersed the crowd. »

Hamas denied the accusations, saying on its website that the crowd broke up after « clashes between different youth groups. »

It was the first time Hamas’s authority had been challenged in such a public manner since it seized control of Gaza from rivals loyal to the Western-backed Abbas in 2007. Read more…

Hamas clashes with protestors in Gaza –witnesses

reuters.com

Tue Mar 15, 2011

GAZA, March 15 (Reuters) – Hamas supporters stormed a crowd of protestors in the Gaza Strip who had gathered on Tuesday to demand Palestinian unity, witnesses said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians had initially answered a rallying call on Facebook demonstrate in Gaza and the West Bank for reconciliation between Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas’s rival Fatah group. Read more…