In a televised speech Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he would take immediate steps to impose order in Gaza Strip. "The withdrawal of the occupation army and the settlers from the Gaza Strip doesn't mean in any way that occupation has come to an end," he said in the speech broadcast on Palestinian television.
"Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and [East] Jerusalem," he said.
In his speech, Abbas promised that "After today, we are not going to hesitate to put an end to all the negative signs and violations of law and order. "We have one law for everyone and no one is above the law. We are not going to tolerate chaos after today," he said.
Earlier, Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei on Tuesday surveyed the wreckage of Israel's former Gaza Strip settlements. As locals continued a looting spree the day after Israeli forces left the territory, Qurei urged the Palestinian people to protect the land and infrastructure and build for the future.
"Please protect this land. It is for you and yours to protect," Qurei said as he toured the main Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza Strip. According to AFP, the prime minister was accompanied by several members of his cabinet.
The Palestinian PM attributed the scenes of chaos to the fury felt by locals towards the Israeli occupation. "This is not a matter of weakness. It is people expressing their feelings that the situation should be changed," he told AFP. "They wanted access to see there is no more occupation and no more settlers in Gaza," he added. "The nightmare has left."
He also insisted that the Gaza Strip is still under Israeli occupation. Qurei asserted that the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip has not ended yet, since several key issues are still debatable. He affirmed that the regional water, airspace and the border crossings should be under full Palestinian control.
As for the borders, Qurei stressed the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) would accept the 1967 borders only.
The looting and chaos were evident also at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. Dozens of people were crossing the border both ways between Egypt and Gaza after several holes were punched through the metal and barbed-wire Rafah security fence.
Under an agreement with Israel, Egypt has been deploying a 750 troops to take security responsibility for the border and prevent weapons smuggling.
In order to ease the chaos, PA minister of communications Sabri Saidam on Tuesday said that his government was contacting the Egyptians to discuss re-opening the Rafah terminal between Egypt and the Gaza Strip following the Israeli pullout of the Strip.
Saidam told reporters that the Israeli closure decision of that crossing on the eve of its withdrawal from the Strip was "unreasonable".
For his part, PA planning minister Ghassan Al-Khatib said that the PA would like to control the crossing in cooperation with Egypt to ensure a smooth flow of goods and passengers between the two sides.
