Following deadly clashes in Qalqilya, PA official says Islamist group cells obtaining arms, trying to taint image of Abbas' regime
Ali Waked
| Published: | 05.31.09, 10:52 / Israel News |
| A Palestinian Authority (PA) official said that Sunday's fierce clashes in Qalqilya, which left six people dead, were part of the Authority's efforts to curb Hamas' increased activity in the West Bank, which includes resuming the activity of its military cells and obtaining arms and explosives. |
Clashes erupt as forces loyal to Fatah raid Qalqilya neighborhood to arrest members of rival Islamist group; witnesses say several Hamas gunmen holed up in buildings
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Ali Waked and Reuters
| Published: | 05.31.09, 07:35 / Israel News |
| Two Hamas gunmen, three Palestinian policemen and a passerby were killed in exchanges of gunfire in the West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian security officials said. The clashes erupted when security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which administers the West Bank, raided a neighborhood in the city of Qalqilya to arrest gunmen of the rival Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip. The officials named one of the killed Hamas gunmen as Mohammad Yasin and said policemen were combing the area in a search for more gunmen. Witnesses said several Hamas gunmen holed up in buildings had ignored calls to surrender. The incident is likely to widen a rift between Fatah and Hamas. Tensions have been high between the rival groups since Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas. Hamas says Abbas' Fatah-dominated security forces are pursuing a crackdown on its activists. The Islamist group said on Saturday 22 of its activists were arrested in the West Bank. |
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