Hamas security force battle gunmen in Gaza, one dead
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) – A new Hamas-led security force battled
gunmen near the Palestinian parliament in Gaza on Monday in a
fresh outbreak of internal fighting, and one civilian was
killed, Palestinian security sources and medics said.
The dead civilian was in a car using Jordanian diplomatic
license plates, witnesses said. One other civilian and a
policeman were wounded, medics said.
Witnesses said members of the new force set up by the
ruling militant Islamic group returned fire after coming under
attack from unidentified gunmen.
The security men took cover inside a building near
parliament. Ordinary police also joined the battle, witnesses
said. Bystanders fled the streets.
Hamas, which took power in March after winning January
elections, deployed its new 3,000-strong force in Gaza last
week, prompting moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to
order police onto the streets too. The rival forces clashed
within barely a day.
Apparent assassination attempts against two top Abbas
commanders at the weekend — one was badly wounded — have also
stoked worries of further strife. Hamas has denied any
responsibility for the two attacks.
Unidentified gunmen killed a militant from Abbas’s Fatah
movement overnight in Gaza. Fatah accused Hamas of killing the
man. Hamas said the gunman was killed when he and another man
tried to kidnap a Hamas member in the southern Gaza strip.
Tensions have surged between Fatah, the long-dominant
Palestinian faction, and Hamas.
Low-level skirmishes between the rival parties have given
rise to fears of a civil war among Palestinian groups, which
include not only Hamas and Fatah, but breakaway factions of
both movements as well as the staunchly militant group Islamic
Jihad.
Hamas, which is formally committed to Israel’s destruction,
has largely abided by a truce in attacks on Israel for the past
15 months. But it has bolstered its forces in its Gaza Strip
stronghold as it attempts to face down internal rivals.