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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS