Hamas Forces Break Up Pro-Unity Protests in Gaza

[oberliner]

GAZA — Mass protests in Gaza on Tuesday were violently broken up by Hamas police officers and security officers, many in plainclothes, witnesses said.

The demonstrations, organized by independent Palestinian youth activists, called for national unity.

At least five people, including three local journalists, were treated at a hospital after being beaten at the demonstration, employees at the hospital said.

The day’s events both exposed Palestinian divisions and underscored the popular desire for political reconciliation between Gaza, controlled by Hamas, and the West Bank, controlled by the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/middleeast/16gaza.html