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Hamas claims full control of Gaza

By Xinhua

Beijing : The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced late Thursday that they took full control of Palestinian Authority security agencies, according to media reports Friday.

    Fighters loyal to Hamas, led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, waved their green banners from atop the headquarters of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza City and took numerous prisoners from Abbas' Fatah party.

    Abbas adviser Tayeb Abdel Rahim said Hamas was attempting a military coup.

    By late Thursday, Hamas had seized control of all Palestinian Authority security installations in the territory, Palestinian security sources said. 

    Medics said at least 30 people were killed, taking the death toll to more than 110 in six days of conflict which leaves an aggressive Islamist entity on Israel's borders.

    Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Palestinian government and declared a state of emergency after six days of bloody faction fighting. 

    Abbas vowed to hold new elections "as soon as the situation on the ground permits," Abdel Rahim said.

    But Palestinian legislator Saeb Erakat, an Abbas ally, earlier had told CNN that Gaza "is now officially out of our control as the Palestinian Authority."

    A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fouzi Barhoum, said earlier that Hamas was imposing Islamic law on Gaza. But speaking from Damascus, exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal denied the movement would place the territory under religious law.

    The White House accused them of "acts of terror" and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Abbas to emphasize support for Palestinian "moderates" but acknowledged finding troops for any international force for Gaza would be tough.