Gaza Bleeds Again, Despite Cease-Fire 7 Die As Hamas and Fatah Shoot It Out

Jun 12, 07:57 AM

Current Headlines: By Isabel Kershner and Taghreed El-Khodary

Violence raged in Gaza on Monday between the rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, despite a new cease-fire that was supposed to have come into effect in the morning. At least seven Palestinians were killed in the fighting, making it the bloodiest day since a fierce two-week bout of internal violence ended in mid- May.

Four Fatah loyalists and a member of the Executive Force, a Hamas police militia, were killed in clashes around the hospital in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, said Muawiya Hassanein, head of the medical emergency service in Gaza.

In Gaza City, a Hamas member and a Fatah intelligence officer were killed, Hassanein said.

Earlier Monday, the office of the Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, came under fire in Gaza City while a cabinet session was under way, and gunmen fired on the Hamas-run Ministry of Culture and Sports. Nobody was wounded in those attacks. Before dawn, gunmen had also fired on Haniya's house in the Shati refugee camp, according to news reports, but nobody was hurt.

The short-lived cease-fire, the latest of many in recent months, was brokered by the Egyptian security delegation stationed in Gaza and came after a bloody 24 hours in which at least three Palestinians were killed. Both factions had agreed to withdraw their gunmen from the streets to allow thousands of high school students to begin their matriculation examinations.

But the city remained tense, and a statement issued by Hamas on Monday detailing the killing Sunday of two of its loyalists, which it blamed on Fatah, seemed to point more toward escalation than calm.

"Nothing can work with such killers," the statement said, "no agreements and no promises."

Given that the Palestinian justice system is in "deep sleep," it added, "The only option that remains is to punish the criminals and the murderers."

The Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, of Fatah, and Haniya had both called on the gunmen to leave the streets to allow the matriculation exams to go ahead.

Hamas and Fatah sit together in a unity government, but are engaged in a bitter power struggle which has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians since Hamas won parliamentary elections 18 months ago.

Burhan Hammad, head of the Egyptian security delegation in Gaza, told the pro-Hamas Palestine daily that "evil hands are working in the Palestinian arena and are becoming proficient at igniting fighting between Palestinian brothers."

He added that the unity government, which has come under increasing strain, was the "only hope" for any kind of peaceful co- existence.

Hamas and Fatah accused each other of starting the latest round of violence, and the Egyptian mediators said it was difficult to determine who was to blame. The deaths Sunday were marked by their brutality, with two Palestinians thrown from the roofs of high-rise buildings in Gaza City. One was an officer of the Presidential Guards, loyal to Fatah, and the other a member of the Executive Force, which was set up by Hamas to counter the official, Fatah- dominated security services.

Also Sunday, a preacher from a Gaza mosque, Muhammad Rifati, was abducted and killed. Rifati's brother, Ala, is a well-known Hamas supporter and head of the commerce department at Gaza's Islamic University. Rifati's body was dumped near the university, presumably to send a message to Ala.

The shooting continued through the night. Abeer Saqa, 40, a mother of six, cried while describing the fear as her daughter Rola, 18, headed to school in the morning. "I was about to go with her and wait until she finished the exam but I couldn't leave the other children alone," Saqa said. Instead, Rola asked her brother to walk her to school.

Saqa said Fatah and Hamas alike have lost popularity because of the fighting. "Parents sacrifice all these years for their kids to complete their high schools. We invest all we have for them. This isn't just," she said.

The Saqa family lives between two tall buildings. Fatah has taken up position in one, Hamas in the other.

"They are shooting at each other and we are in the middle," Saqa said. "We can't sleep. How can Rola focus on studying?"

Rola said she thought that she had done well in her first exam. "After one hour, we heard intensive shooting," she said. "The teacher asked us not to be afraid." In that case, the source of the shooting was mourners firing off guns at a funeral, not clashes, she said.

On Monday morning, Palestinian militants launched seven rockets toward Israel. Four were found in open areas inside Israel, but caused no injuries, an army spokesman said. Two mortar shells were also fired into Israeli territory, he said.

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Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem. Taghreed El-Khodary reported from Gaza City.

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