Hamas Demonstrators Denouce Abbas Speech
Angry Hamas supporters took to the streets of Gaza City after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a stinging condemnation of the Islamist movement. Speaking from the Fatah-controlled West Bank, Abbas says there could be no dialogue with the "killers and coup-seekers" who routed Fatah forces from Gaza.
RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
NPR's Peter Kenyon reports, says the Palestinian divide grows. Gazans fear the coming weeks will bring only more misery.
PETER KENYON: In a televised address, the normally mild mannered Abbas accused Hamas of engineering a coup in Gaza and plotting an effort to assassinate him, a charge Hamas denies. He also said the time for dialogue was over.
MAHMOUD ABBAS: (Through translator) There will be no dialogue with these killers and coup-seekers.
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KENYON: Unidentified Man #1: (Foreign language spoken)
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KENYON: Aid officials worry that Gaza could soon become even more of an economic basket case, totally dependent on humanitarian donations for survival. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar dismissed Abbas and the Fatah emergency government as collaborators with Israel and the U.S. and said Hamas would build its own government in Gaza.
MAHMOUD AL: Unidentified Man #2: (Singing in foreign language)
KENYON: Unidentified Man #2: (Foreign language spoken)
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KENYON: Analyst Ayman Shaheen at Al-Azhar University says Palestinians have been thrust into a new political era, one in which the cherished goal of Palestinian unity is a thing of the past.
AYMAN SHAHEEN: The difference is very deep, and I can say it is impossible to overcome in the coming days or coming weeks, at least. The split met among Fatah and Hamas, the split among the people, and this is the dangerous thing.
KENYON: Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Gaza.
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