Bloody fighting in Gaza
2008-08-03 10:02
Ibrahim Barzak and Dalia Nammari
Gaza City - Hamas forces on Saturday battled Fatah gunmen with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza City neighbourhood, leaving nine dead and 88 wounded in one of Gaza's bloodiest rounds of internal fighting since Hamas seized the territory more than a year ago.
Twelve of the wounded were children, hospital officials said.
In the West Bank, controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, troops enforced a new ban on public assembly and expanded their arrest sweep beyond Hamas. Club-wielding security men arrested dozens of supporters of a non-violent Islamic group, the Liberation Party, and broke up their rally in downtown Ramallah. An APTN cameraman was prevented by Abbas' security forces from filming the beatings.
Mass arrests
Each side has been cracking down on political opponents with growing intensity, since a car bomb in Gaza last week killed five Hamas activists, in an attack Hamas blamed on Fatah. Since then, the Islamic militant Hamas in Gaza and Abbas loyalists in the West Bank have carried out mass arrests.
Hamas on Saturday targeted the Fatah-linked Hilles clan, alleging that suspects in last week's bombing had found refuge in a Hilles-controlled area in Gaza City's Shijaiyeh neighbourhood. Under heavy morning fog, Hamas forces took up positions in the neighbourhoods.
Heavy battles with mortars and machine guns ensued, leaving three Hamas men and six Fatah backers dead, health ministry officials said. Hospital officials said 88 people were hurt, including eight in critical condition. Twelve of the injured were children, the officials said. It was the deadliest internal fighting since November when Hamas police killed seven people in a Fatah-organised memorial rally for the late Yasser Arafat.
Throughout the day Saturday, loud explosions were heard across Gaza City.
By Saturday afternoon, Hamas had asserted control of Shijaiyeh, deploying hundreds of police who went house to house in search of weapons and suspects. In all, more than 50 people were arrested, including some who had tried to flee disguised as women, Hamas said.
No one is above the law
Senior Hamas official Siyad Siam said those arrested included men allegedly involved in last week's attack. Hamas forces found explosives of the type used in the bombing, as well as heavy machine guns and other weapons, Siam told a press conference in Gaza City late Saturday.
"We are sending a message that no one is above the law and that no family is above the law," Siam said. "Gaza will enjoy peace and security."
More than 180 Palestinians who fled the fighting were allowed through a Gaza crossing into Israel, said an Israeli commander in the border area, Colonel Ron Ashrov. The transfer began when a group including injured people and armed men ran up to the Gaza fence, Ashrov said.
When Israeli soldiers went to open the fence, heavy shooting was opened, including mortar shells, on them and the Palestinians, apparently by Hamas, Ashrov said. Twenty-two of those who crossed were injured, he said. Some of those who entered were youths, he said.
- AP