Abbas cabinet vows to exert control over Gaza

RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s emergency cabinet, bolstered by Western promises to resume aid, vowed yesterday to exert its authority over the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

“The government will pursue its jurisdiction over all parts of the homeland, regardless of what happened in Gaza,” Abbas’s Information Minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters after the new government met in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Abbas formed the new cabinet last week in the West Bank after Hamas’s armed wing routed security forces dominated by his Fatah movement in Gaza.It is unclear how much influence Abbas’s government can have in Gaza, now a Hamas fiefdom.Gaza and the West Bank are separated by 45 km of Israeli territory.Abbas’s forces are focused on trying to prevent any spillover of the fighting from Gaza to the West Bank, where Fatah holds sway under Israeli occupation and where Hamas has threatened reprisals.Ismail Haniyeh of the Islamist Hamas has said he still considers a three-month-old unity coalition in which he is prime minister as the legitimate Palestinian government and accuses Abbas of participating in a US-led plot to overthrow him.The European Union said yesterday it wants to resume direct aid to the Palestinians, but did not say when funds would be freed up.The United States is set to lift a ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government formed by Abbas for the first time since an embargo imposed when Hamas rose to power in early 2006 and refused to recognise Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in New York that Israel would release frozen tax revenues to Abbas and “take perhaps more risks” in cooperating with Abbas’s government.Nampa-ReutersAbbas formed the new cabinet last week in the West Bank after Hamas’s armed wing routed security forces dominated by his Fatah movement in Gaza.It is unclear how much influence Abbas’s government can have in Gaza, now a Hamas fiefdom.Gaza and the West Bank are separated by 45 km of Israeli territory.Abbas’s forces are focused on trying to prevent any spillover of the fighting from Gaza to the West Bank, where Fatah holds sway under Israeli occupation and where Hamas has threatened reprisals.Ismail Haniyeh of the Islamist Hamas has said he still considers a three-month-old unity coalition in which he is prime minister as the legitimate Palestinian government and accuses Abbas of participating in a US-led plot to overthrow him.The European Union said yesterday it wants to resume direct aid to the Palestinians, but did not say when funds would be freed up.The United States is set to lift a ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government formed by Abbas for the first time since an embargo imposed when Hamas rose to power in early 2006 and refused to recognise Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in New York that Israel would release frozen tax revenues to Abbas and “take perhaps more risks” in cooperating with Abbas’s government.Nampa-Reuters