Gaza bakery buys butter - and a gun

"The situation is not sustainable over the long term," says a Western official. "You can't have two different security forces manning different checkpoints in Gaza. In the last month or so, Abbas has been clear about his position on that. Hamas has to change, or it will fail."

In January, Hamas swept the Palestinian legislative council to defeat mainstream Fatah. Much of the international community has shunned the new Hamas-led government.

The Quartet - the US, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia - says Hamas must meet several basic requirements before it enjoys funds and foreign invitations: recognize Israel, accept previous peace agreements with the Jewish state, and forswear violence.

Domestically, the political situation has been increasingly rocky. Most of the security forces remain loyal to Fatah and refuse to accept orders from Hamas.

Others, however, have welcomed the Hamas victory. Some express appreciation, for example, at the Hamas ruling that police and security troops are now permitted to grow beards, which is encouraged by Islam.

But Hamas, which has long run a secretive army alongside its political wing, now wants to have a new security force loyal to it, rather than to Fatah.

In the ensuing uncertainty over who is in charge of Gaza's security apparatus, and amid economic desperation, crime is rising.

"We've seen a jump in the crime rate recently by at least 5 percent, and it's usually robberies of homes," says police Captain Ramzi Fouda. "They go into shops or a busy market and take money. There are also a lot of young people from families who cannot meet their basic needs, so they steal products from here and there."

Mr. Fouda has himself gone without a salary for three months. "Now, we're still surviving and living on the minimum. But if it gets worse, the world won't like what they see. The more pressure there is, there will be an upheaval."

He blames much of the situation on foreign donors who don't want to assist Hamas. "We are good people, but the government can't pay salaries, and that's because the world is against our democratic process."

One economic indicator is how people are spending - or selling. Pawn shops are doing a brisk business, as are places that buy and melt gold. Nadir Mohammed Ali, who runs a small supermarket, says that he has lost about a third of his business in the past few months.

"Most of my customers who do come are buying on credit," says Mr. Ali, who has several posters of Hamas leaders tacked up in the shop. Around here, that doesn't mean credit cards, but an old-fashioned, handwritten ledger.

"When they get the money, we hope they will come and pay. Some people cannot afford to buy food, and it is shameful in our tradition to say no, but it's also hard for me," he adds. "I also need money to pay my own bills."

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