Palestinian Fatah supporters attend a rally in Gaza City, Jan. 7, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

Special report: Internal situation in Palestine

    BEIJING, Jan. 8 -- Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters have gathered in Gaza to express loyalty to President Mahmoud Abbas and his faction. This, amidst rising tension with rival Hamas and just a day after Abbas declared the Hamas security force in Gaza -- illegal.

    Supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah rallied in Gaza's main soccer stadium on Sunday. They were aiming to put on a show of strength in the stronghold of the governing Hamas Islamist movement.

    The demonstration marked the 42nd anniversary of the founding of Fatah by the late, Yasser Arafat. The rally was intended to send a clear message to Hamas. Especially after Hamas defiantly rejected Fatah's calls to outlaw the Islamist movement's militia in Gaza.

    The demonstration came as masked Fatah gunmen released a video of a kidnapped Hamas official. They threatened to expand attacks -- if Hamas continues to reject calls to disband its militia in the Gaza Strip.

    But shortly before the Fatah rally the Palestinian Resistance Committee said it would not allow the force to be removed.

(Source: CCTV.com)