Rash of Kidnappings Shock West Bank

Palestinian militants let violence spill into the West Bank from Gaza Sunday with a series of shocking public kidnappings.

Just as fighting erupted in Gaza City between rival Palestinian factions, other militants marched through the West Bank’s streets and violently snatched eight Hamas loyalists, the Jerusalem Post said.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades militants set fire to the Hamas-run Education Ministry before escaping with five of the locale’s employees as their prisoners.

Armed militants loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas entered a Nablus bank and kidnapped local Hamas leader Fayyad Al-Arba and two other Hamas members were taken by militants in another section of the West Bank city.

In the Gaza Strip, where three Hamas members were abducted Sunday, the death toll from weekend fighting between Fatah and Hamas fighters reached 25 with dozens wounded, the Post said.