Hamas, Fatah exchange arrests before Abbas' UN speech
Hamas and Fatah engaged in reciprocal arrest campaigns of each other's supporters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, though the Palestinian Authority denies its arrests were political in nature.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip released from custody on Sept. 27 several Fatah supporters, including students at Gaza universities and members of Fatah’s Office of Mobilization and Organization. The Fatah supporters were arrested Sept. 24 for voicing support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who gave a speech to a session of the UN General Assembly Sept. 27.
As Hamas arrested 70 Fatah supporters in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank embarked upon a similar campaign of arrests, targeting Hamas supporters and members of its student Islamic bloc at Birzeit University in Ramallah. Although the PA detained over 100 people, it did not state that the arrests were politically motivated.
Muhannad Karajeh, an attorney at Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer), told Al-Monitor, “Following the Hamas government release of detainees, the PA freed some of the lately detained Hamas supporters and brought others to trial Oct. 1 on charges of gun possession and obtaining money from illegal sources.” He went on, “We learned from our experience in presenting pleadings on behalf of the political suspects since the 2007 political divide that, sadly, the PA has been using these same charges against all of its political detainees.”
The Hamas internal security apparatus in the Gaza Strip arrested Mounzer al-Hayek, Fatah’s media official in the eastern Gaza branch, three days prior to Abbas' speech at the United Nations. He was arrested for preparing pro-Abbas marches.
