Hamas govt: No peace with secularism

Islamic rule will prevail and will not make peace with secularism, the Interior Minister in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Wednesday. "There will be no peace with secularism. The only peace is first with God, then with Jihad, then with resistance, then with the people and with martyrs," Fathi Hammad said. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for 184 police officers, Hammad said the officers would pursue traitors to the Palestinian cause and strengthen the home front in Gaza, which he said was the bridge to liberate Palestine. Among the officers graduating Wednesday were the future police chiefs of Israeli cities like Haifa, Akko, Yafa, Lod and Ramleh, Hammad said. Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh also addressed the graduates, and announced he had promoted them all to lieutenants, effective immediately. "You should commit to the rule that security is for everyone without discrimination as you are Palestinian police who carry the responsibility of providing security for your people with no regard to their partisan or political views." He added: "We will not allow security chaos back into Gaza." With its police academy, Hamas has established "a security institution with a national doctrine that does not recognize security coordination with the occupation but forms a cover for the security of the Palestinian, the resister, and the resistance." The Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank, led by Hamas' secular rivals Fatah, are obliged to coordinate with Israel under international agreements. Rivalry between Hamas and Fatah led to the division of Gaza and the West Bank under separate governments. Haniyeh said in January that security forces formed since the split would be maintained under any unity deal. The parties, who signed a reconciliation treaty in May 2011, have said they will announce a unity government later this month. Hamas is one of the largest employers in Gaza since Israel's 5-year blockade destroyed the private sector in the enclave.