EXECUTED ; Rivals Shot in Front of Families As Gaza Put in a State of Emergency

Jun 15, 01:34 AM

Current Headlines: By Diaa Hadid

VICTORIOUS Hamas fighters executed a group of prisoners in front of their horrified wives and children yesterday.

The gangland-style shootings followed the Islamic group seizing control of key areas of Gaza after five days of fierce fighting with security forces of the rival Fatah organisation.

In Gaza City, the Hamas men won control of the Preventive Security HQ and dragged Fatah captives into the street.

Witnesses said residents pleaded in vain for the seven men to be spared.

But one local, who gave his name as Amjad, said: "They executed them one by one.

"They carried one of them on their shoulders, put him on a sand dune, turned him around and shot."

With the fighting still raging last night, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, declared a state of emergency.

He also asked for a multinational peacekeeping force to patrol Gaza.

And Abbas said he would dismantle the coalition government and replace Hamas-backed PM Ismail Haniyeh.

However, a senior Hamas official in Syria vowed that Haniyeh would continue in the job. His party's militia fighters have now taken control of a series of key targets including three other Gaza City security compounds and the southern town of Rafah.

It was the second of Gaza's four main towns to fall into the Islamic militants' hands.

A Rafah resident, who identified himself only as Raed, said: "I can see the Preventive Security building in front of me.

"Hamas has raised its green flags over it."

A total of at least 27 people were killed yesterday, bringing the number of dead since the surge in violence began on Sunday to about 90.

Holed up inside their homes, Gazans have been unable to escape fighting, which has turned apartment buildings into battlefields.

Moean Hammad, 34, told how life had become a nightmare in his high-rise flat.

He said: "The world is watching us dying and doing nothing to help. God help us, we feel like we are in a reallife horror movie."

Hamas and Fatah have warred sporadically since the Islamic group took power from Western-backed Fatah last year.

Hamas reluctantly brought Fatah into a coalition in March to quell an earlier round of violence.

But the uneasy partnership began crumbling last month over control of the powerful security forces.

The carnage is posing a fresh crisis for the Middle East as Hamas edge towards grabbing complete control of Gaza .

Israel is watching events closely.

Defence minister Amir Peretz has told security officials he will not allow the violence to spread across the border.

Hamas spokesman Islam Shahawan said: "We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return.

"The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

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