Thousands of Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas paraded in the streets of Gaza in a show of force Thursday, a day after the Hamas-led cabinet deployed its own 3,000-strong army. According to the AP, the policemen chanted: "We are the authority. We salute Abu Mazen (Abbas)."
Meanwhile, scores of Fatah gunmen firing in the air on Thursday forced the Palestinian deputy prime minister from Hamas to cut short a meeting in the West Bank, security officials and gunmen said. The incident in the town of Tulkarem as Nasser Shaer was meeting with the governor of Tulkarem district when the building was surrounded by gunmen loyal to Fatah, security officials and Fatah gunmen said.
Shaer was taken out of the building under police escort, said a Palestinian security official.
The local leader of a Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said Hamas officials were not welcome in Tulkarem and that Shaer had been removed from the building "by force."
