Rival gunmen from Hamas and Fatah fought with assault rifles and missiles yesterday, killing three militants in the bloodiest internal fighting since Hamas took power six weeks ago.
The confrontations began after midnight with a spate of kidnappings and peaked at daybreak when Hamas fired a missile into a jeep with government license plates, killing two Fatah gunmen who were also members of the security forces.
The fighting was the latest sign the two sides could be sliding toward large-scale clashes. Each group has been training its gunmen for possible confrontation, and Hamas recently outbid Fatah in buying a black market shipment of 100,000 bullets.
Tensions have been rising since the Islamic militant Hamas ended Fatah's four-decade control of Palestinian politics with a victory in January parliament elections.
Hamas and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah have been wrangling over power, particularly over control of the security forces, and the friction has been compounded by a growing financial crisis, a result of Western economic sanctions against the Hamas-led government.
Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve their differences in weekend meetings.
The violence yesterday began before dawn in the farming community of Abassan in southeastern Gaza. Hamas tried to kidnap a Fatah member, apparently to settle an old score dating back to the January election, said Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.
The two sides exchanged fire, and a Hamas militant was seriously wounded, Abu Khoussa said.
The shooting prompted a series of kidnappings in which Hamas seized three Fatah members, and Fatah briefly captured four Hamas militants. The captives were eventually released after negotiations.
However, the Hamas member wounded in the initial firefight later died of his wounds, and his death triggered a new round of fighting with assault rifles and submachine guns.
Gunmen hiding in fields exchanged fire across Abassan's main road, sending people ducking for cover.
At one point, Hamas gunmen ambushed Fatah militants driving along the main road in two jeeps with red Palestinian Authority license plates. One jeep was hit by a shoulder-held missile and the second was riddled by bullets.
Ten gunmen were wounded, including one who was in serious condition.
Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas-led government, urged the two sides to resolve the dispute.
Abu Khoussa said he held Hamas responsible, accusing the group of inciting against Fatah.
Rival Palestinian groups have managed in the past to pull back from the brink of civil war. However, in the increasingly heated climate, it could be difficult to put a lid on fighting.
In other developments yesterday, Israel said it is in the process of mapping unauthorized construction in the West Bank, according to a court document. The Israeli government has stalled for three years on its promise to the US to take down wildcat settlement outposts.
Critics attacked the latest initiative as an Israeli delay tactic, noting that just a year ago, a government-commissioned report detailed 105 unauthorized outposts. Almost all of them remain intact, and other unauthorized structures have been erected in the West Bank since.
A deposition filed by the Israeli military with Israel's Supreme Court said the state would draw up a plan to dismantle the unauthorized construction it is mapping. Although it said the mapping would take four months, it gave no timetable for taking down the wildcat buildings.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese