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Hamas, Fatah rival factions deliver battle
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Hamas, Fatah rival factions deliver battle
Three gunmen were killed yesterday when fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip between Fatah forces backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists, in the most serious internal strife since Hamas came to power. The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend.
Abbas and Haniyeh, whose militant Islamist group won a January 25 parliamentary election, are embroiled in a power struggle over control of the security forces which has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war between the feuding factions. The clashes began overnight when, according to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Fatah security men “kidnapped” three members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades.
Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where the men were being held and captured four Fatah men, Abu Zuhri said.
A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, he added. At least 11 people, including a 16-year-old youth, were wounded.
Attempt made to end hostilities</B>
The fighting subsided after about three hours as leaders from both groups attempted to negotiate an end to hostilities.
“The prime minister has issued instructions to the relevant parties to take all necessary measures to end the attacks and to restore law and order,” said cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hammad. Local residents said the tension might spill over again when the funerals for the three dead are held later in the day.
A spokesman for Fatah called for an end to the fighting and “a responsible dialogue to stop the bloodshed in Khan Younis and to prevent the clashes from spreading to other areas”.
Fatah activists have bristled over the rise to power of Hamas over their mainstream faction which long-dominated Palestinian politics.
Rivalries between Fatah and Hamas deepened after Abbas appointed a Fatah loyalist to a senior post in the Interior Ministry, which supervises the security forces, so that he could exert more influence over the Hamas-run ministry.
Last month, 20 people were wounded in fighting between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza after exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal condemned Abbas’s veto of a new security force, formed by Hamas and headed by a top militant.
Adding to the tension is a financial crisis caused by the freezing of aid to the Palestinian Authority by major donor countries, and of tax revenue held by Israel, until Hamas renounces violence, recognises the Jewish state’s right to exist and embraces existing peace deals. Hamas says talks with Israel would be a waste of time.
Compounding Hamas’s fiscal problems, local, regional and international banks, fearful of being slapped with US anti-terrorism sanctions and lawsuits, have refused to deal with the Authority.
As a result, the Hamas-led government has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 public employees since March, prompting the World Bank to express concern about a humanitarian crisis that could render the West Bank and Gaza Strip ungovernable.
<B>Nidal al-Mughrabi</B>
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