[Hamas: Introduction]

Hamas, established in 1987 in the Gaza Strip, defines the elimination of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state as its primary objective. Modeled after the Muslim Brotherhood, the terrorist organization places an emphasis on supporting mosques, kindergartens, clinics and educational institutions.

According to the Hamas charter, "The Islamic Resistance Movement is the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood is a global organization and the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It excels in profound understanding and has an exact, fully comprehensive perception [shumuliyyah] of all Islamic concepts in all areas of life: understanding and thought, politics and economics, education and social affairs, law and government, spreading [i.e., indoctrinating the tenets of radical] Islam [da’wah] and teaching, art and the media, by that which is hidden and by martyrdom [shahadah] and in the other areas of life."

[Covenant and Political Platform]

The Hamas (1988) covenant states that the Palestinian issue is a religious conflict between Islam and the "infidel" Jews. "Israel will arise and continue to exist until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished what went before." As such, the conflict cannot be resolved by a poltiical compromise, but rather by means of jihad (holy war) to liberate all of Palestine, "from the river to the sea."

Indeed, Article 11 of the Hamas Charter clearly states, "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is a religious Islamic endowment [waqf] for all Muslims until Resurrection Day. It is forbidden to relinquish it or any part of it or give it up or any part of it. It does not belong to any Arab country, or to all the Arab countries, or to any king or president, or kings or presidents, or to any organization or organizations, whether they are Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is sacred Islamic endowment land and belongs to Muslims until Resurrection Day. Its legal status is in accordance with Islamic law [al-shari’ah al-islamiyyah]. It is subject to the same law to which are subject all the territories conquered by Muslims by force, for at the time of the conquest [the Muslim conquerors] consecrated it [i.e., Palestine] as a Muslim religious endowment for all Muslim generations until Resurrection Day."

[Military Capabilities ]

During the 1990's, suicide bombings were perceived as the organization's primary "strategic" weapon. Indeed, the first Palestinian suicide bombing attack, in Mehola, was perpetrated by a Hamas terrorist on April 16, 1993. Since 2000, Hamas has been the leading perpetrator of such attacks (approximately 40%), including the infamous Tel Aviv Dolphinarium and Netanya Park Hotel bombings. The terrorist organization has also developed various missiles, including the Qassam and Nasser.

Hamas Army

Hamas military personnel undergo intensive, systematic training, which includes basic training (fitness, rifle shooting and field training) advanced training in sniping, anti-tank warfare, intelligence and artillery.

Basic training, conducted in the Strip, is taught by local instructors. Advanced professional training is held abroad in Iran, Syria, and Lebanon (via Hizballah). Operatives of the internal security services (Executive Force, the police, etc.) also undergo basic and advanced training in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas army (Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades) is currently comprised of 10-15,000 combatants and remains the dominant military force in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of Hamas training camps were established in the Strip after Israel withdrew from the area. New recruits are instructed in the following basic military skills:

  • Target practice
  • Launching rockets (RPG, anti-tank & Qassam)
  • Infiltrating barbed wire (fenced) perimeters
  • Gaining control of enemy structures
Hamas Military Units

Combat
  • Artillery (missiles & rockets)
  • Explosives (IEDs, EFPs)
  • Explosives (raw material)
  • Armor
  • Suicide (squads)
  • Special Forces
  • Navy (200 operatives, led by Jamil Al Dahashan -- armed with heavy machine guns and mortars)
Combat Support
  • Intelligence
  • Logistics
  • Information (propaganda)
The military structure is analogous to that of a professional army.

The Morabitan (fighters who defend Muslim land and prepare for jihad against the enemy) is the largest unit in the Gaza Strip. It is comprised of the following brigades:

  • Northern (commanded by Ahmed Ghandour -- Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Al-Atatra serve as the primary launching sites for rocket attacks against Sderot, Ashqelon and western Negev population centers)
  • Central (previously commanded by Ayman Nawfal)
  • Gaza City (two brigades commanded by Ahmed Ja’abari)
  • Southern Sector (Khan Yunis, commanded by Muhammad Sinwar and Rafah, commanded by Ra’ed al-Atar

Each brigade is further divided into platoons and squads. A squad is comprised of 10 soldiers -- parsed into two cells. Each cell has five combatants and a commanding officer. Each squad is armed with two anti-tank launchers, and includes the following operatives: snipers, combat engineers and (standard) infantry.

The Hamas arsenal includes:
  • Rifles (various)
  • Machine guns
  • Imported RPGs (hundreds of PG-2 and PG-7 anti-tank rocket launchers, several dozen advanced anti-tank missiles of various types, including Konkurs [AF-5] and Saggers)
  • Indigenously produced Yassin RPGs
  • Qassam rockets
  • Mortars
  • Grad (Katyusha) rockets
  • Anti-aircraft weapons
  • IEDs & EFPs
  • Night vision equipment

According to Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida, the organization has also acquired Russian-made Katyusha rockets and continues to manufacture and smuggle weapons.

IDF Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF intelligence research department, confirmed that Hamas has smuggled advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles into the Gaza Strip. Israeli security officials have also expressed concern that Hamas may have smuggled a number of Sagger, Konkur and Kornet anti-tank missiles from the Sinai into the Gaza Strip.

The Sagger AT-3 is a Russian-manufactured anti-tank missile, capable of striking a target at distances between 500 meters and three kilometers, and is able to penetrate 400mm of armor. It is a relatively slow missile, whose rate of flight does not exceed 120 meters per second, and requires approximately 25 seconds from the time it is launched until its impact.

It should be noted that Hamas does not rule out conditional, temporary cease-fires (hudna), which aims to reduce the level of confrontation with Israel (tahdi'a) when it serves Palestinian interests.

[Leadership Hierarchy]

The Hamas internal leadership is present in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The external leadership, considered the movement's highest authority, is based in Damascus, with additional representatives posted in Iran, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. This authority is comprised of (Palestinian) Muslim Brotherhood members and Hamas operatives deported from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Following the death of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, leadership shifted to Chairman of the Political Bureau, Khaled Mash'al in Damascus.

His deputy, Moussa Muhammad Abu Marzouq, is also based in Damascus. The US issued an arrest warrant for Marzouq in August 2004 due to his involvement in assisting and financing terrorism.

[Hamas & Al-Qaeda]

Relations between al-Qaeda and Hamas can be traced back to April 1991, when Sudanese leader Hasan Turabi hosted a "Popular Arab and Islamic Conference" in Khartoum that joined Islamists from the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The meeting was attended by Hamas representatives and Osama bin Laden.

In August 2000, Israeli security forces uncovered a terror network linked to al-Qaeda and headed by Nabil Okal, a Hamas operative from Gaza, who underwent military training in camps run by Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In July 2005, al-Qaeda terrorists fired Qassam rockets at the Israeli community of Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif (Gaza Strip).

On October 7, 2005, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an published a declaration circulated in Khan Yunis in which al-Qaeda announced the establishment of a branch in Gaza. The declaration, signed with the name "Qaedat Aljihad in Palestine," stated that the organization's main goals were:

  • Implementing Islamic law (Sharia)
  • Establishing a Sharia state
  • Creating a worldwide Islamic caliphate

On March 2, 2006, PA Chairman Abbas told Al-Hayat (UK) that he had received intelligence information indicating the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in the West Bank and Gaza. The announcement came shortly after Israel publicized the arrest of Azzam Abu al-Ads and Bilal Hafnawy, two al-Qaeda operatives in Nablus. The pair had planned to carry out a suicide and car bombing in Jerusalem.

In May 2007, Palestinian terrorists linked to al-Qaeda opened fire near a children's festival at a UN-operated elementary school in the southern Gaza Strip. The bodyguard of a local Fatah leader was killed and seven others wounded.

"On the eve of the celebration, the Salafis in Rafah distributed leaflets accusing UNRWA of encouraging infidelity among Muslims...They described the UNRWA director as an anti-Islam infidel and threatened to prevent the celebration by force."

A senior PA security official noted that the attack "carried the fingerprints of al-Qaeda."

Local residents and PA security officials concurred and explained the attackers belonged to a new al-Qaeda group that identified with Salafism.

"These groups have attracted many young men, including high school students, who are disillusioned with Hamas...They have killed several women in the Gaza Strip in the past few months after accusing them of being prostitutes."

Hamas has retaliated by killing of a number of Salafi figures.

It should be noted that relations between the two organizations have steadily deteriorated since Hamas gained control of the PA. In May 2007, al-Qaeda leader Yahya al-Libi harshly criticized Hamas:

"Hamas has abandoned Jihad for politics. It has betrayed its youths. Its main activity is politics. Since its decision to go down the path of politics, Hamas has begun to descend on a downhill slope. They betrayed the dreams of their young fighters and they stabbed them in the back...All of the pretexts Hamas gives for pondering the political path do not even convince Hamas...They don't believe their own rhetoric. They themselves know they are not pursuing the true path of Islam.

Where are your bombs, where is you fire, which should shine like the sun in the enemy's backyard? Your martyrs used to fight for al-Aqsa, and today you replaced the heavy sword with dialogue. Hamas is a part of the conspiracy against the Palestinians...Anyone who takes this path is bound to descend to hell because they are moving away from the true nature of their religion."

Nevertheless, in June 2007 (following the takeover of the Strip), Ayman Al-Zawahri, Al-Qaeda's deputy leader, called on Muslims around the world to back Hamas with weapons, money and attacks on US and Israeli interests.

"Unite with mujahedeen (holy warriors) in Palestine...and with all mujahedeen in the world in the face of the upcoming attack where Egyptians and Saudis are expected to play part of it...Provide them (Hamas) with money, do your best to get it there, break the siege imposed on them by crusaders and Arab leaders traitors...Facilitate weapons smuggling from neighboring countries...We can support them by targeting the crusader and Zionist interest wherever we can..."

[Collaboration with Syria & Iran]

Hamas members conduct various activities from Syrian territory, including formulating policy, planning terrorist activities, training opratives and purchasing arms and ammunition. The organization also engages in fund-raising activity in Europe and various Persian Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia - which provides funds and operative training.

Hamas and Iran also maintain a close relationship. Khaled Mash'al holds regular meetings with the Iranian senior leadership and even met with President Ahmadinejad during a two day visit to Damascus. It should also be noted that Hamas operates in European states via its affiliated figures and foundations.

In October 2006, Hamas interior minister Said Siyam signed a series of military pacts with Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, his Iranian counterpart. The pacts are slated to transform Hamas' military wing, the Ezz e-Din al Qassam, into a crack operational arm of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Gaza into a second Lebanon. Tehran will train a Hamas rapid deployment force of 6,500 men in Hizballah combat tactics, with an emphasis on missiles, especially the anti-tank variety which were used with devastating effect against Israeli tanks in the Lebanon War. The force will be sent over in batches for six-week courses at Revolutionary Guards installations in southern Iran.

In March 2007, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin confirmed that "hundreds of Hamas members have been sent to Iran for training, and not training periods of a week, two weeks or a month, but for long-term, high-quality training..."

During a visit to Iran in December 2006, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh vowed that his Hamas-led government would never recognize Israel. "The world's arrogance (US) and Zionists...want us to recognize the usurpation of the Palestinian lands and stop jihad and resistance and accept the agreements reached with the Zionist enemies in the past...I'm insisting from this podium that these issues won't materialize. We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem...They (Israelis) assume the Palestinian nation is alone. This is an illusion.... We have a strategic depth in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This country (Iran) is our powerful, dynamic and stable depth."

[2006 Electoral Victory]

In January 2006, prior to its electoral victory, Hamas published its political platform which re-affirmed the organization's commitment to the principles of radical Islam, jihad (holy war), and the elimination of the State of Israel. In addition, Islam was named the source of political, economic, social, and legal authority. The platform also called for "economic disengagement" from Israel, the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, and a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

On January 25, 2006, the day Palestinian Legislative Council elections were held, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip stated that Hamas was committed to the ideology of its 1988 charter. He noted that "the movement [would] not change a single word in its charter," which calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, and would not become a purely political movement, but would continue its policy of "resistance."

In April 2006, a-Zahar was quoted in an interview to a Chinese news agency defending Hamas' declared goal of eventually destroying Israel, noting "there is no place for Israel on this land." Zahar maintained that Palestinians have no problem with the Jewish religion, only with the Israeli occupation, and said he does not rule out the possibility of Jews, Muslims and Christians living together in one Islamic state.

On June 30 2006, Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, the Hamas second in command, told Spiegel Online that an internal Palestinian agreement with Fatah on the foundation of a Palestinian state did not mean Hamas would recognize Israel. Rather, the organization would remain committed to violence. 1

[2007 Gaza Strip Takeover]

June 9:
  • Hundreds of Hamas and Fatah operatives battled in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
  • Hamas operatives blew up a house after firing rocket propelled grenades and strafing it with machine gun fire.
June 10:
  • Mohammed Sweirki, a Fatah security officer is pushed off the roof of a 15-story building to his death in Gaza City. His death set off skirmishes in several parts of the city. A Hamas operative is later thrown off the 12th floor of a building.
  • Fatah gunmen killed a Hamas Imam after shelling his house in Gaza City. At least 11 people are wounded in the ensuing clashes.
  • Hamas gunmen stop a car carrying Fatah men and detain them for questioning. Fatah forces rush to the area, and briefly exchanged fire with the Hamas operatives.
  • Fatah gunmen fired at the house of PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (HAMAS), in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City.
June 11-12:
  • Hamas attacked Fatah security installations in the Gaza Strip, capturing several positions.
  • In the northern Gaza Strip, approximately 200 Hamas gunmen attacked one compound, housing approximately 500 Fatah fighters. Hamas fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at the building.
  • At least 16 people were killed and dozens wounded as Hamas captured the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in northern Gaza. A Fatah man who survived the assault on the northern security compound: "We were pounded with mortar, mortar, mortar...They had no mercy. It was boom, boom. They had rockets that could reach almost half of the compound."
  • Hamas operatives seized control of Khan Yunis Hospital. On June 11, Hamas had taken control of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and another in Beit Hanun, both in the northern Strip.
  • Beit Lahia: Former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath of Fatah claimed that Hamas gunmen ransacked his Gaza home and shot one of his bodyguards in the leg.
  • Hamas captured several small Fatah positions in Khan Yunis.
  • Hamas fired mortars at the office of Abbas (FATAH).
  • Hamas seized "thousands of rifles, large amounts of ammunition and dozens of vehicles, including armored jeeps..."
  • Colonel Nasser Khaldi, a Fatah commander in southern Gaza, confirmed his men are on the defensive. "There is a weakness of our leaders...Hamas is just taking over our positions. There are no orders."
  • Forces loyal to Abbas were ordered to defend their positions in the Gaza Strip and counter a "coup" by Hamas.
    • "Advance, our forces! Confront the seekers of the coup. Defend your dignity and your military honour. Defend the security of your people..."
June 13
  • Lt Col Burhan Hamad, the head of the Egyptian mediation team, noted that neither Hamas nor Fatah have responded to his call to hold truce talks on a fourth day of factional battles. "It seems they don't want to come...We must make them ashamed of themselves. They have killed all hope. They have killed the future."
  • Ha'aretz: A Palestinian journalist compared the PA to a smoke-belching car wreck and opined that it was time to toss the keys to the Israelis. "We've had enough, we should be so lucky as to see the return of the Israeli occupation."
  • Hamas forces launched an assault on the three main security forces compound in Gaza City. The assault on the coastal strip's main city came hours after the key southern town of Khan Yunis fell to Hamas, where Hamas operatives detonated a one-ton bomb underneath the Preventative Security headquarters.
  • Hamas forces fired rockets and mortar shells at the Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City, and called from a nearby mosque loudspeakers for the Fatah loyalists inside to surrender. The security officers in the building returned fire.
  • Hamas forces attacked the building of the intelligence service in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City and fired rockets and mortar shells. Hamas forces then took over the rooftops in nearby houses and cut off the roads to prevent reinforcements from arriving.
  • Hamas gunmen in high-rise buildings fired at the Gaza City office and home of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The forces guarding the buildings returned fire.
  • Hundreds of members of the Fatah-allied Bakr clan, which previous had engaged in fierce battles with Hamas, surrendered to the group.
  • At least 24 Palestinians are killed by Hamas fire, including 13 members of Fatah.
  • Hamas gained control of southern, central, and northern Gaza, with Fatah's only remaining significant positions located in Gaza City.
  • Fatah operatives detonated an explosive device along the Philadelphi route near the Gaza-Egypt border and flee into Egypt.
  • Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire in the West Bank city of Nablus, after Fatah gunmen attempted to storm a pro-Hamas TV production company.
  • Hamas demanded that Fatah-linked security officers in northern Gaza relinquish their arms within two days.
  • Eight Fatah men were killed in fierce fighting near the home of senior Fatah official Maher Mekdad.
  • Hamas seized control of the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, after it swept into the central Gaza headquarters of Abbas' National Security Forces.
  • Fatah operatives fired a rocket-propelled grenade against the house of the Hamas Deputy Minister of Information.
  • Hamas bulldozed a key Fatah outpost that controlled Gaza's main north-south road.
June 14
  • The southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah fell to Hamas.
  • Abbas declared a state of emergency and dissolves the Hamas-Fatah coalititon government.
  • Hamas forces overran the Preventative Security (FATAH) headquarters in Gaza City. Hamas operatives reportedly dragged Fatah members from the building and shot them to death in the street.
  • Media reports indicated that 16 men were killed in the clashes outside the Preventive Security and approximately 70 injured. Two of the dead were members of the Al-Qassam Brigades (HAMAS) and two were members of the Preventive Security.
  • A witness, who identified himself only as Amjad, said men were killed before their wives and children. "They are executing them one by one...They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."
  • Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri compared the fall of the Preventative Security complex to the fall of the holy Islamic city Mecca into the hands of Prophet Muhammad. Zuhri shouted "Allah Akbar" and proclaims it a "victory," noting that it was "the second liberation of the Gaza Strip, since it was first liberated from Israeli settlers, then from these collaborators."
  • Hamas forces captured the second of four major Fatah command centers in Gaza City.
  • Hamas forces seized control of the Palestinian presidential compound in Gaza City, calling it the "last bastion" of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip. The presidential compound is the last of four key Fatah-run security compounds in the city, which are now all under Hamas control, as the group completed its conquest of Gaza City.
  • Hamas forces broke into and looted the homes of Abbas and his senior aide Mohammed Dahlan in Gaza.
  • 99 Palestinian (FATAH) policemen fled to Egypt. 2
[References]

  1. "Profile of the Hamas Movement," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), February 12, 2006; "The Hamas Charter (1988)," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), March 21, 2006; "Report: Zahar Says 'There's No Room for Israel on This Land'," Ha'aretz, April 2, 2006; Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi, "Understanding the Direction of the New Hamas Government: Between Tactical Pragmatism and Al-Qaeda Jihadism," JCPA Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. 5, No. 22, April 6, 2006; "No Matter What, the Violence Will Never Stop," Spiegel Online, June 30, 2006; "Tehran Arms Hamas for a Double-Barreled War Option and Gaza as Second Lebanon," DebkaFile, October 14, 2006; Alex Fishman, "Tunnels Feed New Hamas Army," YnetNews, October 7, 2006; "Hamas Claims Army of More Than 10,000," IsraelNationalNews, October 8, 2006; "IDF Intelligence: Hamas has Anti-Aircraft Missiles," Jerusalem Post, October 15, 2006; "Haniyeh Vows to Never Recognize Israel," Jerusalem Post, December 8, 2006; Amos Harel, "IDF Worried Hamas May Have Advanced Missiles," Ha'aretz, February 21, 2007; Yaakov Katz, "Gaza Preparing for IDF Incursion," Jerusalem Post, March 13, 2007; "Shin Bet Director: Hundreds of Hamas Men Being Trained in Iran," Ha'aretz, March 13, 2006; IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi, "The New Hamas Army," JCPA Strategic Blog [Translated from Hebrew], April 16, 2007; Yaakov Lappin, "Al-Qaeda: Hamas Betrayed God," YnetNews, May 6, 2007; "Palestinians Open Fire on UN School," Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2007; Khaled Abu Toameh, "PA Officials: Al-Qaida Attacked School," Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2007; "Al-Qaida Leader Urges Hamas to Implement Islamic Rule in Gaza," Ha'aretz, June 25, 2007; "Hamas Forms 'Naval' Force to Protect the Gaza Strip's Shores," Ma'an News, August 9, 2007; "Hamas’s Military Buildup in the Gaza Strip (Updated April 2008)," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, April 9, 2008.


  2. "One Killed, 14 Wounded as Rival Factions Fight in Gaza Strip," Ha'aretz, June 9, 2007; "Three Killed in Gaza Clashes Between Hamas, Fatah," Reuters, June 9, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Fatah Security Officer Pushed to his Death of 15-story Gaza Building," Ha'aretz, June 10, 2007; "Palestinian Gunmen Target Haniyeh's Home in Gaza," Associated Press, June 10, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Hamas Attacks Fatah Security Positions in Gaza," Ha'aretz, June 12, 2007; Ali Waked, "Mortar Shells Fired at Abbas' Office in Gaza," YnetNews, June 12, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Abbas Forces Ordered to Thwart Hamas 'Coup' in Gaza," Ha'aretz, June 12, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Nine Killed as Hamas Forces Seize Fatah HQ in Northern Gaza Strip," Ha'aretz, June 12, 2007; Khaled Abu Toameh, "Gaza on Verge of Becoming Hamastan," Jerusalem Post, June 12, 2007; "Gaza Residents Under Fire," BBC Website, June 12, 2007; James Sturcke, "Abbas Accuses Hamas of Attempting Coup," The Guardian, June 12, 2007; Danny Rubinstein, "Analysis: Occupation Under the Guise of Self Government in PA," Ha'aretz, June 13, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "2 UN Workers, 14 Palestinians die as Hamas Seeks Gaza Conquest," Ha'aretz, June 13, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Hamas Launches Gaza City Assault; 24 Dead in Day of Clashes," Ha'aretz, June 13, 2007; "Hamas Gunmen Take Control of the Preventive Security HQ in Gaza; Hamas Leader Applauds the 'Liberation'," Ma'an News, June 14, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Southern Gaza Town of Rafah Falls to Hamas," Ha'aretz, June 14, 2007; Khaled Abu Toameh, "Report: Fatah Men Executed in Front of Wives and Children," Jerusalem Post, June 14, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Hamas seizes Intelligence Service Building in Gaza City," Ha'aretz, June 14, 2007; "Abbas Dissolves Gov't, Declares State of Emergency," Ha'aretz, June 14, 2007; Avi Issacharoff, "Hamas Seizes Final Fatah-Run Security Compound in Gaza City," Ha'aretz, June 15, 2007.



Additional Information and Contact Details