Palestinian factions clash
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas militiamen and Palestinian police attacked each other with assault rifles and grenades in a chaotic firefight Monday that turned downtown Gaza City into a battlefield and killed an aide to the Jordanian ambassador.
The shootout near the parliament building, which also wounded 11 people, was the worst fighting since the Hamas-led government sent its militia into the streets last week and increased fears the Palestinians were careening toward civil war.
The violence, which has killed eight people in two weeks, was fueled by a bitter power struggle between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from the Fatah Party, and Hamas militants who won January parliamentary elections and gained control of the Palestinian Cabinet.
Late Monday, a six-hour meeting between Hamas and Fatah representatives ended with agreement to try to defuse the conflict. The meetings are to continue daily, participants said.
The tension has played out on street corners throughout the Gaza Strip, where the bearded members of the 3,000-member militia – wearing their trademark camouflage pants, black shirts and black caps – stand guard a feet away from the Palestinian police, many of whom are Fatah loyalists.
Some of the Hamas militants appeared jumpy Monday, holding their rifles at the ready with their fingers hovering near the triggers. A rumor circulated through one group of fighters that it was in the cross-hairs of police snipers.
There are those on both sides who believe they can benefit from the fighting. Some Fatah officials are confident they will emerge victorious and be returned to power, or at least cause enough chaos to bring down Hamas.
Abbas, who has railed against the violence, told the Palestinian daily Al-Quds that he has the power to disband the government and call elections. “But such a decision would not be justified unless Hamas gets a full opportunity (to rule),” he said. “If it fails, then we can talk about disbanding the government.”
Hamas officials believe the new force is the only way they can assert power and gain respect after Abbas seized control of the Palestinian security branches.