The number of Palestinians slain in vigilante killings and other internal violence has nearly quadrupled in four years, from 43 in 2002 to 151 so far this year, according to statistics presented on Thursday, and one top security official said that more Palestinians were killed in internal violence this year than by Israeli troops.
The descent into lawlessness is hurting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas politically, at a time when he is trying hard to beat back a tough challenge by his Islamic militant rivals. This week, a Palestinian parliament frustrated with armed gangs and corrupt police officers have ordered Abbas to disband his Cabinet and make crime-fighting his number one priority.
deteriorating
"The security situation is deteriorating in a very dangerous way, with no one putting a stop to it," said Hassan Khreisheh, the deputy parliament speaker.
In the most recent incident, a Gaza taxi driver was killed last Sunday by gunmen affiliated with Abbas' ruling Fatah movement. At the time, a group of drivers was blocking a junction in southern Gaza to protest rising fuel prices. The gunmen demanded the junction be cleared, then they opened fire, killing 30-year-old Yasser Barakeh.
Abbas promised Barakeh's family he would track down the killers, but no arrests have been made.
The growing chaos is, in part, an outgrowth of nearly five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. The conflict strengthened armed gangs and weakened the Palestinian security forces, who were initially targeted by Israeli troops. With the breakdown of law, many Palestinians have returned to tribal justice to settle disputes.
war lords
Some security commanders have become war lords, using the men under their command for personal gain or illegal enterprises, such as weapons deals or extortion. In many cases, policemen are moonlighting as gunmen in militias. The overlap is particularly pronounced in the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which has ties to Fatah.
Abbas, meanwhile, has shied away from confronting the armed groups for fear of civil war. However, his attempt to get armed men off the streets with promises of jobs and political participation has had only limited success.
Abbas' security chief, Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, argues he can't fight crime without a political decision to confront the armed groups.
"When Hamas keeps its military wing, then Fatah will say, we have the right to do the same," said Yousef's spokesman, Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, referring to unauthorized armed gangs linked to the ruling party. "That's what makes it so difficult for the interior minister to fight chaos and implement the law."
Abu Khoussa said that this year, more Palestinians have been killed by fellow Palestinians than in fighting with Israel.
He did not provide figures, but his claim was backed up by the Independent Commission for Human Rights, an independent Palestinian group.
Majed Arouri, a researcher for the group, said 151 Palestinians have been slain in internal violence or as a result of reckless behavior by militants so far this year. By comparison, 140 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during the same period, Arouri said.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS