Analysis: Another nail in the coffin for Fatah

[Scurrilous]

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"Hamas scored yet another victory over the weekend when Fatah's last stronghold in the Gaza Strip succumbed following a massive security operation in the Shajayieh neighborhood.

When Hamas took full control over the Gaza Strip more than a year ago, it refrained from disarming many Fatah militias and clans that refrained from openly challenge the Islamist movement.

But after the explosion that killed five Hamas men and a seven year-old-girl on June 25, Hamas changed its policy and began confiscating weapons from Fatah groups, first and foremost the faction's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

The massive crackdown that began immediately after the explosion reached its peak on Saturday, when a large Hamas security force raided Gaza City's Shajayieh neighborhood with the aim of arresting men involved in the bombing.

The suspects, all members of Fatah, were said to have found shelter with the powerful Hilles clan, which had established its own "security zone" in the neighborhood.

In the beginning, the clan's men vowed to fight to the end, but by the evening most had surrendered to Hamas.

Hamas has hailed the operation as a significant step toward asserting its exclusive control over the Gaza Strip."

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