Referendum as a provocation

The decision to hold a referendum on recognition of Israel provoked a surge in inter-Palestinian clashes. Supporters of the Fatah movement, led by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, seized parliament. Civil servants, who had not received their salaries for several months, burst into parliament, shouting slogans against Hamas, and began attacking parliamentarians from this movement, trying to beat them. Several visitors climbed onto the desks of the deputies and began chanting: “We are hungry!”