Hamas rounds up Fatah activists in wake of deadly Gaza rally

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas took quick action Tuesday to shore up its control of the Gaza Strip, arresting hundreds of Fatah supporters and promising "additional steps" against its bitter rival one day after a huge Fatah rally ended in mayhem and violence.

Hamas forces opened fire Monday as an estimated 250,000 Palestinians were beginning to leave a rally marking the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. Seven civilians were killed and 85 people wounded in the worst outbreak of violence between the two Palestinian factions since Hamas overran Gaza in June, expelling pro-Fatah forces.

The carnage indicated that Hamas is prepared to use force to maintain its control of Gaza, and conversely, that large segments of the population oppose such measures.

Fatah officials said Hamas forces arrested 450 people in the aftermath of the rally. Hamas said those arrested had incited violence at the rally.

Gaza's Hamas government met Tuesday to discuss the violence, said Taher Nunu, a Hamas spokesman.

"The government will reconsider its policy toward Fatah and will take additional steps to protect the political and national and media movements in the streets of Gaza," he said.

He declined to elaborate, saying the government was still deciding what steps to take. But the threat appeared to signal even tougher steps ahead.

In an unusually harsh statement, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it "strongly condemns the excessive use of force" by Hamas police at the rally. The group's investigation showed that Hamas gunmen provoked the Fatah backers by driving a jeep into the crowd.

The huge numbers at the rally were interpreted as a vote of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's successor, as he prepares for a crucial Mideast conference this month in Annapolis, Md.

Palestinian negotiators charged Tuesday that Israel is sabotaging the conference by making new demands. The latest is that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians could not do that. Such a declaration would imply conceding the "right of return" of 4 million Palestinians -- refugees and their descendants from the war that followed Israel's creation in 1948.

Israel insists that the refugees must be repatriated in the Palestinian state to be set up, not in Israel.

While a deal might eventually be worked out, Palestinians were not prepared to give up their traditional demand even before negotiations begin.

Israel has been lowering expectations from the conference, and on Tuesday, an Israeli TV station declared the conference dead, showing a traditional Jewish mourning poster labeled "Annapolis" as a backdrop for its analysis.

The Annapolis conference is an outgrowth of the Hamas takeover of Gaza. In response, Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and named a new one with his supporters. Although it, in effect, rules only the West Bank, the West has renewed contacts and aid that were suspended while Hamas was in power.

Since routing Fatah forces and taking control of Gaza, Hamas has ruled the area with an iron grip. It has banned virtually all Fatah activities, tortured Fatah supporters, closed pro-Fatah media and charities and broken up attempts by Fatah to hold organized prayers. Two Fatah supporters have been tortured to death, according to human rights groups.

In Gaza on Tuesday, Fatah kept a low profile. A series of funerals for people killed at Monday's rally proceeded without violence, though mourners shouted anti-Hamas epithets at one of the funerals.

"Death to Shiites. Death to the criminals," the crowd chanted. Fatah supporters often call Hamas "Shiites," a derogatory reference to the group's close ties with Iran's government. Some mourners carried pictures of Arafat, Fatah's founder, or yellow Fatah flags.

Waving Palestinian flags and Fatah banners, thousands of Abbas supporters held rallies Tuesday in cities across the West Bank. About 10,000 Fatah supporters marched in Nablus, while smaller rallies took place in Ramallah and Bethlehem.