Fighting breaks out in Gaza between Hamas and Army of Islam together with Dughmosh clan

Editorial Note: The following news reports may be summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology.

Date: 02 / 07 / 2007 Time: 11:14

Gaza – Ma'an –

Clashes erupted in Gaza City on Sunday night between the Army of Islam militia, with the powerful Dughmosh clan, and the Hamas movement.

The Army of Islam militia said that Hamas and its Executive Force injured the group's leader, Khattab Maqdisi, before abducting him. In retaliation, Army of Islam kidnapped ten Hamas members.

"A group affiliated with Khattab opened fire at members of the Executive Force before fighting erupted and Khattab was abducted," Hamas said.

The spokesperson of Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said "we received information that Khattab, and groups affiliated to him, intended to vandalise areas of Gaza City. After he opened fire at the Executive Force, Khattab was arrested.

"At the same time the Dughmosh family abducted ten university students, who may be Hamas loyalists."

With regards to whether Khattab was injured, Abu Zuhri did not give a clear answer. He said "Hamas will investigate the issue and secure law and order, preventing any group from dragging Gaza back into the state of chaos."

The Army of Islam militia, which was established in 2006 in the Gaza Strip, has conducted a number of operations, including the abduction of BBC reporter, Alan Johnston. Johnston continues to be detained.

The group is also one of the partners in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

Hamas arrests Army of Islam spokesman

Monday July 02, 2007 13:37 by John Smith - IMEMC & agencies

The Hamas movement announced on Monday that it had arrested the spokesman of the Army of Islam, the group behind the kidnapping and captivity of BBC reporter Alan Johnston.

The spokesman for the group, Khatab al-Maqdisi, was arrested after he and other members of the organization exchanged fire with the Hamas-affiliated executive force on Sunday.

In retaliation, the army of Islam is said to have kidnapped 10 Hamas loyalists and has stated that it will release “damaging documents” concerning Hamas should al-Maqdisi not be released.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, refuted the suggestion of a link between the arrest and efforts to free Alan Johnston.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.