Abdel Aziz Duaik, a top Hamas official and Speaker of the house, fled the hall under heavy guard shortly before the crowd burst in. "I’m not coming back until they leave," he said as he rushed out.
During the melee, some demonstrators climbed onto desks chanting anti-government slogans. Security guards were called in to break up scuffles but no injuries were reported and calm was restored after about 45 minutes.
Most of the demonstrators were thought to be Fatah activists, whose actions were later condemned by Hamas members.
Violence and tensions have been increasing between the two factions, which have clashed over security, power-sharing and the President's proposal to accept its Jewish neighbour. Violence between Israel and the Palestinian militants has also surged.
Mr Haniyeh has agreed to a week of meetings with the President in an attempt to negotiate a way around the deadlock.
Mr Abbas, the head of Fatah, has endorsed the plan to acknowledge Israel as the only way to restart peace talks and lift the crippling international economic sanctions. Hamas, elected by a landslide in January, is fundamentally opposed to Israel's existence.
The President hopes to forge a united political front but if the talks fail, he has scheduled a referendum on the plan on July 26. There are fears that without agreement, the sporadic street violence will escalate into civil war.
Meanwhile, Hamas has said that it has raised more than $60 million from international donors but has been unable to transfer it across the border.
Last month, a Hamas official was caught as he tried to smuggle about $800,000 into Gaza. The money was seized, but later returned to the government.
FYI - ping.
Now I'm sure of it. Hello to you all on Earth!
This is then a purely welfare state. They produce nothing and all civil salaries are paid from donations.
They elected these people, so they got what they deserved.
Somehow I doubt this. $1 million in $100 bills make a cube a foot on each side. You'd need 2 steamer trunks to haul $20 million.
I wonder where this man was going with the money, and what he planned to do with it?
In any case, think I'll go visit some gang websites and post this... 'Yo, homeboyz... If you see any Imams walking around with big suitcases, you might want to cap that boy and check it out!
that would have to be a very heavy suitcase.
Just carrying on the Arafat/Abu Mazen tradition.
They could feed Gaza's Arabs for years on what was stashed away in their Swiss bank accounts.
Twenty million cash in a suitcase? Wow! That must have been one really big suitcase!
I remember reading about drug dealers only using cash because it's too heavy to run off with ... what's 20 million dollars weigh and was that money US equiv. or Iraqi Kiwi's ?????
"Shoot...a fella could have a purty good weekend in Vegas with all that...."
A huge percentage of Palestinians "work" for the "government" and is constantly expanding. This is a result of all the western aid that has been sent there for decades.
Few there now know how do anything actually productive, that actually earns an income. They've become totally dependent on foreign aid.
$20 million and it needs to go to 100,000 people? That's only $200 each. Somehow I can't see how that's going to help, but they had better give it to the people because if they only give it to the politicians, they're dead meat.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
How big is that suitcase?
The chief assclowns Hamas also said today that due to the shortage of rocks, the militia will be going to the snapping wet towel and possibly the water bucket over door transom weapon to wipe Israel from the face of the Earth.
How the hell can you pack $20 million cash in a suitcase?
Sounds like more rughead hyperbole to me.
Lots of cash found = how much has been stolen?
But the MSM claims the repubbie's are corupt.