Fight For Gaza

Members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security force stand guard outside the Council of Ministers building during first emergency cabinet meeting, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, June 18, 2007. The emergency government Abbas installed after Islamic militants seized control of Gaza reaped its first windfall as the European Union promised to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in crucial aid.

An Israeli tank maneuvers behind a separation barrier inside the northern Gaza Strip, near the border with Israel Sunday, June 17, 2007. Israeli fuel company Dor Alon said it was cutting off supplies to Gaza gasoline stations following the takeover of the territory by Hamas militants. But it said it would continue to ship fuel to Gaza's electricity power plant. In the background is the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun.

A Palestinian youth raises his hand and shouts slogans during a rally in Gaza City, Friday, June 15, 2007. The Palestinian territories have essentially been split into two parts. Gaza is now under the control of Hamas, an Islamist movement with close ties to Syria and Iran. The West Bank, home to most of the Palestinian population, is dominated by the more moderate Fatah, which has ties to Israel and the West.

Palestinian militants from Hamas stand at the desk of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inside Abbas' personal office after it was taken over by Hamas in fighting in Gaza City, Friday, June 15, 2007. Fatah forces collapsed under the onslaught by Hamas, which showed superior organization and motivation.

Fired Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya, a political leader of Hamas, center, walks, flanked by armed guards, to a mosque near his home, in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Friday, June 15, 2007. Hamas seized full control of the Gaza Strip Friday after days of ferocious gun battles, and hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired the government and declared a state of emergency.

Smoke rises from the headquarters of the pro-Fatah Security Forces loyal to President Mahmud Abbas after it was blown up by Hamas militants in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 14, 2007. An increasingly alarmed international community warned that the no-holds-barred power struggle between Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah endangered prospects of a future Palestinian state and peace with Israel.

A Hamas militant with a rocket propelled grenade on his shoulder takes position close to the pro-Fatah Preventative Security headquarters during clashes in Gaza City, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Hamas besieged the Fatah post as factional clashes entered their second week.

A Hamas militant stands near a burning jeep on the grounds of a building belonging to the pro-Fatah security forces loyal to President Mahmud Abbas after Hamas took it over in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Hamas was poised to seize full control of the Gaza Strip by overrunning key Fatah security strongholds after days of ferocious gun battles in the chaotic territory.

A masked Hamas gunman walks during clashes with Fatah militants on Wednesday, June 13, 2007, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade (Hamas' military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement) asked fighters who are loyal to Fatah (the movement of supporters of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas) to leave their headquarters and give up their weapons as it pushed an offensive against its rival.

Palestinian boys look at Hamas gunman during clashes with Fatah militants Wednesday, June 13, 2007, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

Palestinians from Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades attack the offices of the Change and the Reform parliamentary block of Hamas in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Fatah-linked arsonists set fire to an office used by Hamas MPs in the occupied West Bank, where factional fighting is beginning to spread from the Gaza Strip.

A Hamas militant sits at desk holding a copy of the Koran inside the offices of the head of the pro-Fatah Preventative Security compound after Hamas took over the headquarters following clashes in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Hamas gunmen broke into the compound and hoisted the green flag of their movement on the roof after an hours-long battle.

A militant holds up the green Islamic Hamas flag as he stands on a watch tower of the pro-Fatah Preventative Security compound after taking over the headquarters following clashes in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, Thursday, June 14, 2007. The headquarters fell to Hamas fighters as the Palestinian president mulled firing the teetering coalition cabinet uniting the rivals.

Smoke is seen as Hamas militants break down a door inside the pro-Fatah Preventative Security compound after taking over the headquarters following clashes in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, Thursday, June 14, 2007. The main Fatah headquarters in the Gaza Strip fell to Hamas fighters as gunmen broke into the compound and hoisted their green flag on the roof after a battle that left at least two dead.

Palestinian children play in the abandoned guard house at the base of Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmud Abbas after Hamas militants seized it in the southern Gaza strip close to the town of Rafah, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Hamas besieged the Fatah post in Gaza as factional clashes entered their second week.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas chairs a crises meeting with the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the central committee of his Fatah party, at his offices in the West Bank city if Ramallah Thursday, June 14, 2007. Abbas was seriously considering dismissing the Palestinian unity cabinet amid Gaza clashes between Fatah and rival Hamas.

Members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) guard Rafah's border with Egypt, after Hamas took control of the crossing Wednesday, June 13, 2007, in the southern Gaza Strip. According to a Hamas spokesman, the PRC are guarding the border due to an agreement between Hamas and Egypt.

Palestinians argue during a demonstration against the internal fighting between Fatah and Hamas, in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Hamas fighters launched a fierce offensive on Gaza City, attacking the main security bases and the president's compound with mortars and rockets and sending some of the rival Fatah forces fleeing in disarray as the Islamic group appeared close to taking over the entire Gaza Strip.

Palestinian woman approaches the corner of a building where a Hamas militant is in position during clashes with Fatah militants and Palestinian security members in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Fierce battles over key security positions spread to central and southern Gaza, with Hamas fighters wresting control of the coastal strip's main road.

A Palestinian woman holds a sign during a demonstration calling for the end of internal fighting between Fatah and Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Fierce battles over key security positions spread to central and southern Gaza Wednesday. The violence in Gaza has rapidly spiraled toward all-out civil war, with more than 50 reported killed since Monday.