Fighting intensifies in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian gunmen waged a street battle outside the residence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas around dawn today, dashing hopes that an overnight truce would bring quiet to the Gaza Strip.
The rival factions Hamas and Fatah are fighting for control over the Palestinian government, and the volatile coastal territory was buffeted by violence all day Sunday. Three people were killed in Sunday’s fighting, in which gunmen shot up the Palestinian foreign minister’s convoy and militants launched mortar shells at Abbas’ office.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has accused Abbas of inflaming the political crisis by calling for early elections and said his Hamas group would boycott the poll. Abbas, a moderate from Fatah, called for new elections to resolve the political deadlock that has paralyzed the Palestinian government since the hardline Hamas militants won January parliamentary elections.
Hamas’ electoral victory split the Palestinian government, with Abbas seeking peace with Israel and Hamas refusing to even recognize the Jewish state’s existence. The political tensions have repeatedly turned violent and the chaos has spiraled out of control since unknown gunmen killed the three young sons of a Fatah-allied security chief last week.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar’s motorcade came under fire Sunday as it drove near the Foreign Ministry in Gaza City. Zahar was unharmed, but the attack unleashed a ferocious gunbattle that raged for more than an hour, the worst fighting since unity government talks broke down late last month. Medical officials said a 19-year-old woman was killed in the crossfire.
Zahar said top Fatah leaders were “fully responsible” for the attack on him “and what will happen.”
In a separate attack blamed on Hamas, dozens of gunmen raided a training camp of Abbas’ Presidential Guard near the president’s residence, killing a member of the elite force.
Hamas gunmen also opened fire at a demonstration of tens of thousands of Fatah supporters in northern Gaza, wounding at least one person, and unknown militants fired at least two mortars at Abbas’ office in Gaza City. Hours later, they launched another mortar shell.