[1] In 2003, the Palestinian Basic Law of the PNA was amended[5] and a semi-presidential form of government was established, whereby a constitution creates a directly elected fixed-term president, plus a prime minister and cabinet collectively responsible to the legislature.

[6] Documents published in the Palestine Papers reveal that in 2004, the British Secret Intelligence Service helped to draw up a security plan for the Fatah-led PNA.

The plan proposed a number of ways to degrade the capabilities of opposition groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the al-Aqsa Brigades.

The strategy would involve disruption of command, control and communications capabilities, detention of key officials, and confiscation of their weapons and financial resources.

This election—which was boycotted by both Hamas and PIJ—resulted in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas being elected president for a four-year term.

[11][12] On 8 February 2005, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a ceasefire,[13] which Hamas endorsed on 17 March 2005.

[15] Israel completed its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip on 12 September 2005, removing all Israeli residents and security personnel, and demolishing all of the associated residential buildings.

[16] On 26 September 2005, Israeli forces arrested or detained 450 members of Hamas for violating the ban on rallies, public meetings and election campaigns inside Jerusalem.

[20] On 27 January, US President George Bush said the landslide victory of the militant Islamic group Hamas was a rejection of the "status quo" and a repudiation of the "old guard" that had failed to provide honest government and services.

This view was echoed by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who said: The European Union insisted on having elections in Palestine, and this is the result of what they asked for.

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent, James Robbins, said the Quartet's response was chosen with care: They did not demand a renunciation of violence or immediate recognition of Israel, but a commitment to these things in the future.

[6] He also placed the security forces of the Gaza Strip under his direct control[6] and increased the Palestinian Presidential Guard—which consisted entirely of Fatah activists loyal to him—from about 90 to 1,000 officers.

[28] Hamas responded by creating a parallel security force—the Executive Force—which consisted of members of its military wing, led by Jamal Abu Samhadana.

At that point, the U.S. began to provide training in urban anti-terrorist techniques to members of the Presidential Guard, with the goal of strengthening Abbas's security forces.

[31] By October 2006, the United States, Israel, many Arab governments, and most of Abbas's key advisors still held the view that if Hamas did not unambiguously accept the Quartet's conditions, it should be forced out of power.

[33][34] The Fatah and Hamas factions finally signed an agreement to stop their military confrontations on 8 February 2007 and agreed to form a national unity government.

[citation needed] According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the June 2007 escalation was triggered by Hamas's conviction that the Palestinian Presidential Guard—expanded by the United States to 3,500 men and loyal to Mahmoud Abbas—was being positioned to take control of Gaza.

Fatah gunmen fired shots at the residence of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, in Gaza City, but no casualties are reported.

A major Fatah base in the northern town of Jabalia fell to Hamas fighters, witnesses told AFP news agency.

Heavy fighting also raged around the main Fatah headquarters in Gaza City, with Hamas militants attacking with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

[2] On 14 June, President Abbas announced the dissolution of the unity government and declared a state of emergency as Hamas militants took over vehicles and weapons in the National Security headquarters compound—Abbas' residence.

Later on 14 June, Hamas also took control of the southern Gaza Strip city Rafah, which lies near an already closed border crossing with Egypt that is monitored by Israeli, Palestinian and European Union security forces.

According to the pro-Hamas view, Fatah fighters, led by commander Mohammed Dahlan with logistical support from the US Central Intelligence Agency, were planning to carry out a bloody coup against Hamas.

[citation needed] Rose quotes former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief Middle East adviser David Wurmser, accusing the Bush administration of engaging in a dirty war in an effort to provide a corrupt dictatorship [led by Abbas] with victory.

The accusations also included public executions of captives and political opponents, throwing prisoners off high-rise apartment buildings, and shooting from a jeep marked with press insignia.

A crowd took furniture, wall tiles, and personal belongings from the villa of the deceased Palestinian leader and founder of Fatah Yasser Arafat.

[60] An Islamist movement called Jihadia Salafiya began to enforce Islamic law in Gaza, including a ban on alcohol, internet cafes, pool halls, bars, and on women in public places without proper head coverings.