Abbas calls for referendum to recognize Israel

The Palestinians have never held a referendum before, and officials said the vote would not be binding. But passing the referendum could give Abbas an important boost in his standoff with Hamas.

“It would bolster his legitimacy and give him power to go ahead with negotiations with Israel,” said Azam al-Ahmad, a top Fatah official. Al-Ahmad also said Abbas, who wields considerable powers, would consider calling elections for president and parliament if Hamas did not abide by the results of a referendum.

Hamas says that accepting the plan would mean abandoning its principles. It also says a referendum is not necessary because Palestinian voters chose its political program in legislative elections just over four months ago.

Militants attack Abbas TV facility
Hamas militants stormed a Palestine TV broadcast facility in the southern Gaza Strip, kicking workers out of the building and destroying equipment in a shooting rampage, employees said. There were no reports of injuries.

The incident in Khan Younis came in the final hours before Abbas’ deadline to the government to accept a manifesto implicitly recognizing Israel.

The broadcast authority is controlled by Abbas.

About 15 gunmen fired in the air as they entered the building. “You are collaborators. You are biased. You are dirty people,” they screamed, according to the workers.

The gunmen expelled employees from the building, beat up a cameraman and fired their weapons at cameras and other equipment, the witnesses said. They left the building after several minutes.

The facility is used to transmit signals for state-run television and radio broadcasts.

Violence marked deadline
The Palestinian infighting has turned deadly in recent weeks. Sixteen people have died in clashes between Hamas and Fatah loyalists, including five killed on Sunday. Five Palestinians were wounded in two clashes in the southern city of Khan Younis on Monday, security officials said.

Hamas has stuck to its tough line on Israel despite the crushing international boycott, which has left the government unable to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants for three months.

Hamas officials promised over the weekend to begin paying overdue salaries. But on Monday, the government failed to meet its pledge, causing widespread confusion in the Palestinian areas and prompting angry workers to storm one Gaza City bank.

Some banks advanced money to unpaid civil servants to help calm the situation. In some cases, people received money. In others, the promised payments failed to materialize. And tens of thousands of workers remained without paychecks, with the government as far away as ever from ending the boycott.

“These are people who don’t have money to buy milk,” said policeman Raed Abu Ghoneima, one of the protesters who stormed a Gaza City branch of the Arab Bank. “It has nothing to do with politics; it’s about wages.”

Also Monday, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza city, the military said, killing two militants and wounding two bystanders, according to Palestinian hospital officials.

Israel said the main target, a militant from the renegade Popular Resistance committees, was involved in firing rockets at Israel. He died of his wounds.

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