Factional Fighting Marks Hamas Anniversary
27.01.2007 01:52 English news
(CBS/AP) Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a militant from the rival Fatah movement late Friday, witnesses said, sparking a deadly gunbattle and capping a day of factional violence that killed at least 13 people, including a 2-year-old boy, across the Gaza Strip.
Friday's violence was among the deadliest in nearly two months of infighting and marred the first anniversary of Hamas' upset victory in Palestinian elections, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger (audio).
After nightfall, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout Gaza City.
Some of the heaviest shooting was concentrated around the home of Mansour Shaleil, a local Fatah leader in the Jebaliya refugee camp just north of Gaza City.
Hamas gunmen surrounded the home early Friday to arrest Shaleil, accusing him of involvement in a shooting that killed two Hamas supporters earlier in the day. After an hours-long standoff, dozens of Hamas gunmen stormed the house and exchanged fire with Shaleil and his loyalists, according to witnesses and ambulance drivers.
They later withdrew, Palestinian media reported, leaving Shaleil unharmed. Two people were killed in the fighting. The men were identified as Hamas militants.
“It looks like they forgot who the enemy is,” said Maher Mekdad, a Fatah spokesman. “They forgot the Israeli occupation.”
In other developments:
Gunmen from Hamas attacked the home of a militant from the rival faction in Gaza, Berger reports. As the wounded militant was rushed to a hospital, Hamas gunmen stopped the car and executed him with a shot to the head. The attack came hours after a roadside bomb was detonated as Hamas militiamen drove by.
A Palestinian cleric deported from the U.S. insisted Friday he never had ties
to a radical Islamic group and says he has reformed since delivering fiery speeches advocating terror and denouncing Jews. Fawaz Damra (left), 46, the former spiritual leader of Ohio's largest mosque, was released Thursday by Israel, which had imprisoned him for three weeks. "I was never a terrorist," Damra said from his parents' home in the West Bank town of Nablus on Friday. "I was always a man of peace who wanted to speak to people of other faiths and hear what they had to say."
Thousands of Israelis, some citing fear of Palestinian terror attacks, others saying they are in danger of spousal abuse, have requested asylum in Canada and hundreds have so far been granted refugee status there, Israel's two mass-circulation dailies reported Friday. One of the papers quoted Israeli ambassador to Canada Alan Baker as telling Canadian officials they were being duped by spurious applications from Israelis. "They are harming Israel's image and representing it as a country whose citizens are persecuted," Baker's letter was quoted as saying.
Lawyers for Israeli President Moshe Katsav will have the opportunity to present his side of the story in a hearing before the attorney general, reports Berger. Katsav, born in Iran, is on a leave of absence because of rape allegations. His attorneys say they need two months to prepare their arguments. After the hearing, the attorney general will make a final decision on whether to charge Katsav with rape. Katsav claims he's innocent, and has accused the police and media of conducting a witch hunt. He says he'll fight to the end to clear his name.
Fatah gunmen, meanwhile, kidnapped 19 Hamas militants and threatened to kill them if Shaleil was harmed, officials on both sides said. After Shaleil's rescue, Hamas and Fatah officials said they were working with mediators to arrange the hostages' release.
Fighting also spread to the headquarters of the pro-Fatah Preventive Security agency in Gaza City. A total of four Hamas gunmen were killed in a battle outside a nearby mosque. Hamas accused Fatah gunmen of starting the battle and wounding several worshippers in a drive-by attack. Mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades were fired during the melee, smashing windows on several nearby homes.
In other incidents, fighting erupted outside the residences of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas leader. Hamas officials said Zahar's home was damaged by two rocket propelled grenades. Hundreds of security forces loyal to Abbas were sent into the streets to protect his compound and various security installations.
Friday's violence was among the deadliest in nearly two months of infighting and marred the first anniversary of Hamas' upset victory in Palestinian elections, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger (audio).
After nightfall, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout Gaza City.
Some of the heaviest shooting was concentrated around the home of Mansour Shaleil, a local Fatah leader in the Jebaliya refugee camp just north of Gaza City.
Hamas gunmen surrounded the home early Friday to arrest Shaleil, accusing him of involvement in a shooting that killed two Hamas supporters earlier in the day. After an hours-long standoff, dozens of Hamas gunmen stormed the house and exchanged fire with Shaleil and his loyalists, according to witnesses and ambulance drivers.
They later withdrew, Palestinian media reported, leaving Shaleil unharmed. Two people were killed in the fighting. The men were identified as Hamas militants.
“It looks like they forgot who the enemy is,” said Maher Mekdad, a Fatah spokesman. “They forgot the Israeli occupation.”
In other developments:
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| (AP) |
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