Indictments handed down in a military court have cast light on a little known “popular army” established last year in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The army, which was broken up by Israeli authorities, was apparently directed and financed by Al Fatah’s office in Amman, Jordan. Fatah is the fighting arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization controlled by Yasir Arafat.
The army’s purported role was to replace the local Arab police, threaten strikebreakers and other Palestinians who cooperate with Israel, and integrate its activities with the Palestinian uprising, Ha’aretz reported Wednesday.
The newspaper said that between 40 and 50 activists are in custody, including the top military and administrative leaders.
The paper identified them as Rabah Hamad, secretary of the military arm; Akram Arian, the military commander in Khan Yunis; Ramadan Dahlan, treasurer and regional coordinator; and Yassin Sharuf, who was responsible for administrative affairs in Khan Yunis.
According to the military prosecutor, the “popular army” was conceived by Al Fatah and established in the southern Gaza Strip in October 1988.
Hamad received a letter from Fatah headquarters instructing him to divide Khan Yunis into two districts, the town of Rafah into another and the refugee camps into a fourth district. Squads were set up and leaders chosen in each district.
Uniforms were purchased for the “soldiers,” Ha’aretz reported. A pay scale was established. Unmarried men received the equivalent of $60 a month in Jordanian dinars, and married men were paid $100 a month.
Fatah approved about $60,000 for expenses to be divided among the men.
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