Palestinian president warns of repercussions

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today said he’ll see to it that Fatah leaders and security officers responsible for the fall of Gaza to Hamas are punished, in line with findings by an internal investigation.

A Palestinian committee of inquiry into the militant Hamas’ bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip last month found that about 60 officials of Abbas’ Fatah movement and members of the Fatah-allied security forces should be held accountable, Abbas aides said.

However, the committee’s report was not made public, and no names of officials being held responsible were given.

Also, in summing up the findings, Abbas’ aides did not mention any responsibility he might have for the fall of Gaza, as overall commander of the security services.

Abbas aides promised an overhaul of the security services, based on findings in the report that random recruitment and lack of motivation weakened performance.

Such problems have existed for years, but were never addressed thoroughly, despite reform pledges that began under Abbas’ predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat.

Since the fall of Gaza, some 40 members of the security services in Gaza have resigned, been fired or sent into retirement.

The most prominent is former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who resigned yesterday as national security adviser, citing health reasons.