U.S. will lift embargo to aid Abbas

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RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas yesterday, with a U.S. diplomat saying he expects a crippling embargo to be lifted after the Palestinian president appoints a government without the Islamist militants.

But the money is unlikely to reach Gaza, now controlled by Hamas and cut off from the rest of the world.

Mr. Abbas signed a decree appointing the new Cabinet this morning, and it is to be sworn in later today in the West Bank, where Fatah forces stormed government offices yesterday, three days after Hamas seized control of Gaza and Mr. Abbas dismantled the Hamas-Fatah coalition government in response.

In Gaza, panicked residents stocked up, fearing growing shortages of food, fuel and other staples as the crossings of the fenced-in strip with Israel and Egypt remained closed. Hundreds of other Gazans rushed to the border crossing with Israel to try to escape Hamas rule but found gates locked. Israeli troops briefly fired warning shots, and only a few managed to cross.

Senior officials of Mr. Abbas' Fatah movement, who had fled Gaza, started reaching the West Bank. The head of Palestine TV, Abdel Salam Abu Nada, said he crawled for several hundred yards to evade gunfire at the Gaza-Israel crossing before making it to safety.

Across Gaza, Hamas cemented control. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who has ignored Mr. Abbas' order firing him, replaced Fatah security commanders with his own men, and Hamas gunmen rounded up their opponents' weapons. In the southern town of Khan Younis, members of the most powerful local clan refused to hand over their guns and a firefight erupted. Hamas fighters stormed the homes of clan members, and said they confiscated drugs and a weapons cache.

Symbols of Fatah control, including the Gaza City residence of the late Yasser Arafat, were looted. Mr. Abbas' office said looters took furniture, including a bed, as well as presents the legendary leader had received in four decades at the helm of Palestinian politics. Hamas security forces later arrived and locked the house. Hamas denied anyone had broken into the building.

Two Fatah loyalists were slain yesterday, in what Fatah said were revenge killings. Also, the bodies of seven Hamas members were found in the basement of the Preventive Security Service headquarters, a Fatah stronghold captured Thursday, and the bullet-riddled corpse of a Fatah field commander turned up in southern Gaza. More than 100 people were killed in a week of clashes.

In the West Bank, gunmen from Mr. Abbas' Fatah movement attacked Hamas-run institutions, taking control of the parliament and several government ministries. Chanting, "Hamas Out," they planted Fatah and Palestinian flags on rooftops. They attacked Hassan Kreisheh, an independent legislator and one of the two parliament deputy speakers, and left only after warning that government workers with Hamas ties could not return.

In Gaza, the first deputy parliament speaker, Ahmed Bahar of Hamas, called Mr. Abbas' attempt to form an emergency government illegal.