JERUSALEM – Marking the worst internal Palestinian fighting since Hamas won January’s Palestinian elections, gunmen from Hamas and the long-ruling Fatah organization duked it out in the streets of Gaza today, shooting and firing missiles at each other and kidnapping members of rival groups.
Three gunmen were killed and at least 10 people were injured.
Hamas sources told WND the fighting erupted this morning over control of large fields in Kfar Dorom, a Jewish community until Israel’s evacuation of the Gaza Strip last summer. Both Fatah and Hamas claimed the fields as their own. Hamas announced plans to turn the area into a “military training zone.” Gun battles were reported near the fields.
The two groups then traded accusations of kidnapping each other’s members. Both denied the allegations. However, immediately after the denials, a wave of kidnappings reportedly took place with Hamas kidnapping three Fatah members and Fatah briefly capturing four Hamas gunmen.
Senior officials from both organizations brokered an exchange of captives, but gunfights reportedly broke out at the exchanges. After a Hamas man was wounded mortally, apparently by Fatah gunmen, Hamas shot two Fatah members in the street.
Hamas members today also fired a shoulder-held missile into a jeep with Palestinian Authority government license plates, killing two Fatah gunmen who also reportedly were members of the PA security forces.
Gun battles continued in several Gaza towns.
According to reports, large numbers of Palestinian children stayed home from school because parents were afraid to allow their kids to venture into the streets.
Fatah and its declared military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, have been sparring with Hamas since the Islamic group won elections by a large margin. Last month, 20 were injured in local gun battles. Fatah had ruled the Palestinians for four decades.
The two groups are vying for control of the 70,000-strong Palestinian security forces, including armed factions trained by the United States.
Last month clashes broke out after Fatah leader and PA President Mahmoud Abbas vetoed a plan by Hamas to form a new security force to be headed by a top terror operative.
Also Abbas has been working to find ways to accept international financial aid by bypassing the cash-strapped Hamas-run government, prompting confrontations with Hamas.
This weekend, in what is being called the first sign of public discontent with the new Hamas government, hundreds of PA workers engaged in a protest strike to demand payment of overdue salaries.
According to Israeli security officials, both Hamas and Fatah have been training their gunmen for months for a possible confrontation.
Hamas is debating an initiative that would attempt to expel rival gunmen from controlling key towns in Gaza, including several former Jewish Gaza cities. The plan, if implemented, is widely expected to turn violent.
Said a security official: “The fighting is about power, not a specific local issue. The two [groups] are fighting for control.”
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