Fatah security officials on trial

An internal investigation found the security forces were badly managed

Security officials from the Palestinian movement, Fatah, have gone on trial in the West Bank for failing to stop Hamas from seizing control of Gaza in June.

The eight middle-ranking officers in the Fatah-dominated security apparatus are accused of disobeying orders.

Their lawyers say they expect their clients to be jailed as scapegoats.

The ease with which its rival swept to power in Gaza caused huge embarrassment to Fatah and its leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The government security forces were considered to have been better resourced and had much greater manpower.

Since then, there has been a clamour within Fatah to punish those seen as responsible for the failings of their security forces, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool says.

Internal investigation

The eight officers on trial at a military court in Jericho are accused of disobeying orders and abandoning their posts during the fighting with Hamas in Gaza in June.

The most senior of the accused was third-in-command of one of the smallest government security forces and was in charge of training.

An internal investigation has already found that those forces were badly managed, ill-disciplined, infiltrated by Hamas, and that recruits did not have the same feeling of purpose in their role as Hamas recruits did.

Our correspondent says there is a feeling among many Palestinians that those at the top of the security structure should have taken responsibility for the failings.

But many of them have either been allowed to retire without facing charges, or are overseeing this trial, he adds.

The court is expected to reach a ruling later on Thursday.