Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks published on Thursday that he intends to transfer broad security powers to the future Hamas government, including the national defense branch, preventive security, the civilian police and civil defense.
The national defense branch, which consists of 25,000 policemen, is the largest branch and is defined as the Palestinian army. The other three are subject to the Palestinian Interior Ministry.
In an interview to Al-Jazeera television in Qatar earlier this week, Abbas said that the only security branch which would not be subjected to the government would be General Intelligence, headed by Tawfik A-Tirawi. This branch remains subject to his ministry, he said.
‘We'll grant Hamas authority over the Palestinians' national security because we need to have one body controling the situation to ensure security. I don't intend to deprive Hamas of what I demanded in the past from Yasser Arafat,’ he said.
This is the first time that Abbas has stated his intention to impart broad security powers to Hamas. According to sources close to Abbas, his statement was meant to clarify his intention to give Hamas partial security powers.
The Palestinian Constitution subjected the three security branches to the interior minister when Abu Mazen was forming his first government in 2003. Under pressure from the international community, then PA chairman Arafat agreed to renounce his control over some of the branches.
However, the sources said Abbas, who is defined by the constitution as ‘supreme commander of the armed forces,’ did not intend to renounce control over the branches, but rather to give Hamas the role of supervising them, not actually controling them.
Abbas also said in the interview that he is in favor of forming a unity government with Hamas ‘on the basis of a joint Fatah-Hamas platform. If no agreement is reached Hamas will form it by itself because it has a parliamentary majority.’
Hamas leaders have stated that they do not seek direct control of foreign affairs and defense ministries, but will ask for authority to supervise these ministries' activities.
In recent weeks Abbas has transferred security authorities from the government to his own ministry. He appointed Interior Minister General Nasser Yusuf as his deputy for security affairs and put head of preventive security Rashid Abu Shabak in charge of ‘internal security in the West Bank and Gaza.’