Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siam ordered Friday to withdraw a
3,000-member force from Gaza Strip streets following a wave of violence with
other official security forces, the state-run Palestine TV reported.
Siam had instructed the deployment of the force in the Gaza Strip on May 17,
violence with other official security forces has since then occurred almost
daily. Six Palestinians and a Jordanian citizen were killed in the clashes.
Palestinian witnesses in Gaza City confirmed the report, saying that they did
not see any member of the force on Friday.
Meanwhile, commander of the force Yousef al-Zahar told Xinhua in a telephone
interview that Siam had ordered to redeploy the force and gradually pull them
out of Gaza Strip streets.
"The decision was made to defuse tension in the streets," saidal-Zahar, the
youngest brother of Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar of the Hamas-led
government.
The decision was made as an inter-Palestinian dialogue has been held for the
second day.
An official statement of the Hamas-led cabinet said that the government
instructed the special aiding force to redeploy in the Gaza Strip and leave
sensitive locations.
However, Ghazi Hamad, spokesman of the cabinet, said that the decision was
not to withdraw the force completely from the streets, but to redeploy it in
areas far away from friction with other militants.
"Taking members of the security force away from sensitive locations is aimed
at defusing tension and protecting the interests of our people," Hamad said,
adding redeployment is part of an agreement reached between Hamas and
Fatah.