Reporter's Notebook: Tale of Two Police Forces in One Territory

GAZA STRIP — May 22, 2006 -- On the litter-strewn streets of Gaza Strip these days there are two police forces.

One is provided by Hamas; the other by forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah organization.

I spent a few hours this morning driving through the streets of Gaza City in the ABC News armored vehicle, having a look.

At every major intersection I saw two or three members of the new Hamas force. They were deployed on the streets for the first time last week by the new Hamas minister of interior, and in direct defiance of Abbas.

They wear black baseball caps, black T-shirts, and camouflage pants. Most of them have ammunition vests stuffed with extra clips for their Kalashnikov rifles. A few have rocket-propelled grenade launchers instead, and in their vests they carry replacement grenades, still wrapped in their greased-paper coverings.

They all have beards, as befits the Islamic credentials of their organization. The beards differ in length and bushiness. They all appear to be serious and disciplined. They appear to have cohesion and structure. There are senior figures among them who carry walkie-talkies and give orders to the junior men. There is no smoking. They pray five times a day, wherever they are on duty.

At various times in the day, a pickup truck arrives with a new shift. At other times, it brings food and water. The process seems highly organized.

When I asked them about the confusing situation and what they were doing patrolling the streets, they said they were simply there to protect the people, and impose law and order. This is what they were elected for, they say.

Outside some of the more important buildings in Gaza, this new Hamas force lines up just a few feet from the forces loyal to Abbas and the Fatah organization he still heads.

The latter are many in number and their allegiances are split among the various Fatah leaders. Some of them are teenagers and wear badges on their uniforms, showing which Fatah "boss" they support. Their uniforms and weapons seem to be older and in bad condition. They don't appear to have spare ammunition.