Gaza City, Gaza Strip – With Israel preparing to withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip within days, the Palestinian Authority struggled Wednesday to cope with renewed lawlessness that included the predawn assassination of Moussa Arafat, a presidential security adviser and a cousin of Yasser Arafat’s.
Arafat’s killing at the hands of Palestinian militants was the latest event to raise questions about Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ability to impose control in Gaza following the completion of the Israeli pullout.
Israel, meanwhile, said it planned to remove its soldiers from Gaza on Monday, three days earlier than previously announced, the Israeli media reported.
Israel evacuated nearly 9,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza last month, and the troops are in the final stages of tearing down buildings and removing military equipment.
In Wednesday’s shooting, up to 100 masked gunmen from the Popular Resistance Committees stormed the expansive, four-story family compound belonging to Arafat at about 4:30 a.m.
The attackers overpowered security guards and blew out doors with small explosives before reaching Arafat, Palestinian officials said.
Still in his pajamas, Arafat was dragged in front of his home and shot dead in the dirt street, which was covered with shattered glass.
Arafat was the only fatality, although his grown son Manhal, who is also a security officer, was seized by the assailants, and four bodyguards were wounded during shooting exchanges that lasted about 30 minutes.
Palestinian authorities were attempting to negotiate the release of Manhal Arafat Wednesday night.
The Arafat family compound is just three blocks from the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security forces.
Residents throughout the area said the gunfire woke them, but no security officers came to the scene during the shootout, witnesses and Palestinian officials said.
Arafat, who was in his 60s, had held a number of senior security posts since the formation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. He had a reputation for ruthlessness and was widely suspected of corruption. Among his many rivals and enemies were the armed Palestinian factions and other security chiefs – including leaders of the Preventive Security forces.
The Popular Resistance Committees, a faction created after the Palestinian uprising began five years ago, claimed responsibility and said more such killings could follow if the Palestinian Authority did not punish corrupt officials.
Arafat “was famous for his corruption, and he committed many other crimes against the Palestinians,” said one leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, who gave his name only as Abu Said. “The Palestinian Authority should have taken action against him. But they didn’t do anything, and this is why we decided to assassinate him.”
The Palestinian Authority pledged to find the killers, but its track record in solving high-profile killings has been dismal.
“This is a test of the Palestinian leadership, and it comes at a time when they need to establish internal tranquillity,” said Ziad Abu Amr, a prominent lawmaker. “If the Palestinian Authority cannot establish control, then others will step into the vacuum.”