Hamas Rejects Call For International Peacekeepers in Gaza

  30 June 2007

The armed wing of Hamas has rejected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's call for the deployment of international troops in the Gaza strip.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said Saturday it would regard such a force as an army of occupation and would forcibly resist it.

President Abbas dismissed a Hamas-led unity government and formed his own administration in the occupied West Bank after Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip two weeks ago.

During talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris Friday, Mr. Abbas called for deployment of an international force to Gaza.

The Palestinian president said such a force was necessary to provide security so early parliamentary and presidential elections can be held in Gaza.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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