Amid the heaviest fighting since the intifada, the Palestinian government of PM Qureia is coming under ÄfigurativeÅ fire for its inability to deal with parallel military authorities like Hamas. Policeman stormed the parliament building to protest the government’s inability to equip and train them properly to deal with the problem, while legislators themselves voted that Qureia should be replaced within two weeks if this doesn’t happen soon.

About 40 Palestinian policemen broke into the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City on Monday, firing in the air to protest what they said was the humiliation police are facing because of attacks by Hamas militants.

No injuries were reported.

The storming came one day after fierce clashes between police and Hamas in Gaza City and the nearby Shati refugee camp, during which Hamas gunmen attacked the local police station with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The camp’s deputy police chief, Ali Makawi, was killed in the fighting.

Israel Radio reported that the police involved in Monday’s incident are members of Makawi’s unit.

The police stormed a meeting of Palestinian legislators, convened for the purpose of discussing the state of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia’s government. They voted Monday that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas must form a new government within two weeks.

The proposal, presented by the parliament speaker, was adopted by a vote of 43-5. The legislators largely endorsed a parliamentary committee’s report criticizing Qureia’s cabinet for its handling of factional anarchy. However, they stopped short of a no-confidence vote.

“I call on the Palestinian people to go out into the streets to demonstrate both against the Palestinian Authority and against the factions,” said legislator Freih Abu Medein from Abbas’ ruling Fatah party.

The protesting officers did not enter the chamber in which the meeting was taking place. They were promptly removed from the parliament and continued to shoot in the air outside the building.

“Yesterday, we did not have enough bullets,” said one of the protesting policemen. “We had nothing to protect ourselves.

“Give us as least bullets to protect people and to protect our stations,” he said. “Our commander died in front of us, and we were running out of bullets.”

“We want the Palestinian Authority to take a stand on Hamas. Our blood is flowing for the Authority and they are not doing anything,” one officer dressed in black told Reuters.

This comes as Fatah won a clear plural majority of seats in the most recent round of municipal elections; though, how Hamas would have done cannot be accurately measured as it didn’t put up nearly as many candidates this round. In previous rounds, Hamas has won up to 2/3 of the municipal seats, so the continuous drop may be a good sign. Parliamentary elections are to be held in January, postponed from this summer, and by then ÄhopefullyÅ Palestinians will continue to realize that it isn’t Israel, but Hamas and similar groups, that are causing their own internal turmoil.

The article above is interesting because it shows, now that Israel has pulled out of Gaza, that the policemen and legislators on the front line of this issue are ready to finally put an end to groups like Hamas, instead of coexisting with them on the notion that everything is Israel’s fault. I think this move would be impossible without the population starting to trend away from the kind of rhetoric that Hamas espouses; the kind that has people focus on external instead of internal issues. Now that Israel is out of Gaza, it means that Palestinians need to start focusing on real issues that affect their daily lives, which ultimately means the realization that Hamas has been part of the problem.

If this becomes the trend, like I said, then the government will certainly be able to secure a stronger mandate to fight and disarm them. Alongside this, as their popularity wanes, so will their potential showing in the parliamentary blows. This would be their most crushing defeat.