Hamas, Fatah Clash in Gaza, 3 Killed

Gun battles between rival Palestinian Hamas and Fatah militants in the Gaza Strip Monday left three people dead and at least 10 others injured.

The confrontations began at daybreak when Hamas fired a shoulder-held missile into a jeep with Palestinian Authority government license plates, killing two Fatah gunmen who were also members of the security forces, Ha’aretz reported from Jerusalem.

Hamas also claimed Fatah militants were to blame for a fire that broke out Monday afternoon in the Palestinian parliament building in Ramallah. No one was injured, but Parliament Chairman Aziz Dawik of Hamas said the possibility of arson was not being ruled out.

Fatah, which ruled Palestinian politics for 40 years, has been fighting with Hamas since the Islamic group won a January parliamentary election.

Elsewhere, a senior Palestinian official told London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi Palestinian police cannot provide food for prisoners detained in its prisons because there is no money to pay for it.

Israel, the United States and the European Union suspended aid to the authority after the election, saying Hamas is a terrorist group.