National

Call for New Elections Angers Hamas Loyalists

By Eric Westervelt, Andrea Seabrook

Published December 17, 2006 at 5:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday angrily denounced a call for new elections from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Haniyeh said the call for elections was unconstitutional and would cause great unrest. He also said that Hamas would not participate.

Tensions rose quickly after yesterday's annoncement by Abbas. Gunmen attacked the convoy of the Palestinian foreign minister and raided a training base for an elite security forces unit Sunday.

A 19-year-old woman was killed in the crossfire and a security officer also was killed.

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Andrea Seabrook speaks to Eric Westervelt in Gaza.

National

Eric Westervelt

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Andrea Seabrook

Andrea Seabrook covers Capitol Hill as NPR's Congressional Correspondent.

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