Al-Akhbar

A Palestinian storekeeper displays items bearing portraits of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on November 8, 2014, in Gaza City.AFP / Mohammed Abed

Published Sunday, November 9, 2014

Updated at 3:26 pm (GMT +2): The Palestinian faction Fatah decided to cancel out a memorial – scheduled in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday – to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a leader of Islamic Jihad said Sunday.

Khaled al-Batch said in a statement that Fatah leader Faisal Abu Shahla had officially told him that his movement had decided to cancel out the Arafat event in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Batch is a coordinator of relations among Palestinian factions. He said Fatah would organize a conference soon to mention in detail the reasons for cancelling out the rally.

Earlier on Sunday, Gaza's Interior Ministry issued an official apology for being unable to provide security for the memorial.

"The Interior Ministry in Gaza has issued an official apology to Fatah movement for being unable to provide security for the festival held to commemorating the tenth anniversary of Arafat's death," leading Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil said in a statement.

Al-Bardawil asserted that that there is no political motive behind not securing the ceremony and that Hamas has nothing to do with the issue.

"Securing the festival is the concern of security agencies and the interior ministry," he added, noting that the ministry took the move due to the lack of fuel and absence of the operational budget needed to properly secure the event.

On Friday, a series of coordinated bombings targeted the homes of some leading Fatah members in the Gaza Strip.

One of the bombs went off close to a stage set up for the planned event to mark Arafat's death anniversary.

Arafat, the founding leader of Fatah, died at the age of 75 at a Paris hospital in 2004. His health had deteriorated markedly after Israeli forces besieged him for several months inside his presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

Some Palestinian factions, including Abbas' Fatah, had accused Israel of fatally poisoning the late Palestinian leader inside his home in Ramallah in 2004.

The commemoration will mark the first time that Fatah has received permission to mark the late leader's passing in Gaza since 2007, when clashes broke out between Fatah and Hamas that led to a seven-year political division between the two main Palestinian parties.

But earlier this year Hamas and Fatah struck a reconciliation agreement leading to the formation of a government of national unity.

The national unity deal signed on April 23 between the PLO and Hamas has come under intense pressure since, especially as critics say Israel has sought to undermine the deal through a massive arrest campaign targeting Hamas members across the West Bank over summer as well as the 50-day assault on Gaza that killed more than 2,000, mostly civilians.

Despite all Israeli attempts, Palestinian officials continued to stress on the need to stay committed to the reconciliation.

However, the recent attacks has led to renewed concerns over the possibility for the reconciliation deal to fall apart.

Hamas condemns Fatah's 'groundless' accusations

A top member of the Hamas movement on Saturday condemned Fatah leaders for accusing Hamas of being linked to more than a dozen blasts across Gaza the day before, urging all sides to prevent rhetoric that could undermine national unity.

Khalil al-Hayya called upon Fatah leaders to hand over to Gaza’s security services the names of those that Fatah claims are responsible for the attacks.

"If the cost of these blasts is avoiding reconciliation, we have the right to know who is behind them," he said, stressing that Hamas is not "hiding" behind the blasts to avoid reconciliation.

The Palestinian Authority called the attacks a "criminal act" distant from the Palestinian and national principles and dangerous to the image of the Palestinian cause.

Even though Hamas leaders rushed to denounce the attacks on Friday morning and called upon security services in Gaza to investigate into the attacks and bring those responsible for it to justice, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority security services accused Hamas of having knowledge of the blasts before they happened.

Senior Fatah official Nasser al-Qidwa said in a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah Friday afternoon that Fatah held Islamist group Hamas responsible for the attacks.

"The Fatah central committee condemns the crimes which took place this morning against its leaders and lays the responsibility for these crimes upon Hamas," he said.

Hayya slammed the accusations as “groundless” and “baseless,” adding that Fatah should have waited until the investigation ended before jumping into conclusions and leveling charges.

On Friday, The Ministry of Interior and National Security in the Gaza Strip declared that they would be forming an investigation committee that includes members of all security services in order to determine details of the explosions.

The ministry said in a statement that investigation crews had already visited places of explosions immediately following the blasts to collect evidence and witnesses testimonies.

The statement added that the ministry will not allow internal conflicts to re-erupt, and that necessary procedures will be conducted.

The attacks came a day before the Palestinian cabinet was supposed to visit Gaza from the West Bank and amid rising optimism over the political reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas that was launched in April after seven years of division.

Some have speculated that whoever was behind the blasts could have been trying to thwart reconciliation and ensure the Palestinian Authority did not re-extend its control over Gaza.

All major political factions in Gaza, however, condemned the attacks, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and a leader of Salafi militant groups.

Hamas leader Al-Hayya warned against using the incident as an excuse to avoid reconciliation, calling on all sides to uphold their responsibilities towards the national good.

(Ma'an, Anadolu, Al-Akhbar)