After two days of fighting, Hamas and Fateh announce truce 

Monday June 11, 2007 11:47 by Wissam Afifah - IMEMC News info at imemc dot org

The Fateh and Hamas movement announced on Monday a truce after two days of clashes that took place in the costal city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The clashes claimed the lives of three Palestinians and injured more than 50 others.

The new ceasefire agreement, which was reached with the help of an Egyptian security delegation that arrived in Rafah on Sunday, states that both Hamas and Fateh will pull their fighters from the streets and dismantle the road blocks that both factions installed in various parts of the city.

Medical sources at Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar hospital reported that a Hamas field leader, Ahmad Abu Harp, was killed during the clashes after being shot several times in the chest. Al-Shifa Hospital also reported that Mohamed Al-Nahal, an officer of the Fateh-affiliated National security forces, was killed after sustaining critical wounds in the clashes.

Witnesses in Rafah city reported that fighters from both Hamas and Fateh targeted homes of the leaders of both movements and set several of them on fire during the clashes. On Sunday, residents of the city reported a calming of the situation.

The latest wave of infighting took place when fighters from Hamas and Fateh clashed with each other after both movements last week agreed on a ceasefire and to dismantle the checkpoints and road blocks installed all over the city.

In March, infighting between the two factions killed 50 Palestinians, among them 8 children, and left at least 200 injured.

Translated by Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC News Room

4 Palestinians killed and 23 injured as factional violence erupts in Gaza City; renewed aggression mars truce 

Date: 09 / 06 / 2007 Time: 21:26

Gaza – Ma'an – 

Despite the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Fateh, which took affect from 11am on Monday morning, a series of violent confrontations have marred the truce, just hours after its inception.

A spokesperson of the Palestinian police said that armed men launched rocket-propelled grenades at the Al-Abbas police station. He said, "The shell, which was hurled from a square behind the police station, caused damage to the building, but no casualties were reported."

The spokesperson explained that the gunmen fled and the police pursued them.

The director of the Palestinian ministry of sports' bureau, Ahmad Mheisin, said that Fateh combatants opened fire at the ministry's headquarters. He said, "While we were in the office, we were alarmed by the torrent of gunshots being fired at us and we saw Fatah executive force members."

He claimed that that those present in the ministry did not return fire at the gunmen.

Head of the Egyptian security delegation in Gaza Strip, Major General Burhan Hammad, warned Palestinians that a third-party, other than Hamas and Fateh, is attempting to escalate the situation.

Exchanging accusations

The Hamas and Fatah movements exchanged accusations on Sunday evening over the deaths of members of the two movements in the armed clashes which erupted in Gaza City in the afternoon. It has emerged that four Palestinians were killed and 23 injured on Sunday.

The electronic website of the Palestinian national security forces accused Hamas of throwing a senior member of the presidential guards, Lieutenant Muhammad Sweirky, 24, from the 18th floor of the Al-Ghafari tower in Gaza City, and of detaining another member of the security guards, called Fawwaz Al-Hato. For their part, Hamas denied the story claiming that the deceased fell from the 18th floor in the area, which was under the control of the presidential guards.

On the other hand, Hamas accused the presidential guards of kidnapping and killing the imam of the Al-'Abbas mosque in Gaza City, Sheikh Muhammad Rafati. Furthermore, Hamas accused gunmen of abducting an activist in the Deir Al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday evening.

Tension prevailed in Gaza City on Sunday afternoon after tit-for-tat abductions between the Hamas and Fateh movements in the centre of the city amidst heavy gunfire and deployment of gunmen in the streets.

Security sources stated that armed men abducted a Fatah activist in Gaza City called Ahmad Al-Buheisi, and in return, other gunmen kidnapped a Hamas member in retaliation.

In another incident, Palestinian citizen Abdul Halim Hassan, 25, was injured in Gaza City at the hands of unidentified gunmen, and he was transferred to Ash Shifa Hospital for treatment.

For its part, Fatah affirmed that 4 presidential guards were abducted in Gaza City on Sunday morning at a roadblock which Hamas members erected.

Eyewitnesses mentioned that 'Eid Abu Hasira, 43, an escort of the member of Fateh's revolutionary council, Marwan Abdul Hamid was abducted on Sunday evening along with another relative of his, near the sea port in western Gaza City.

Fatal clashes on Saturday

On Saturday evening, two Palestinians were killed and forty injured in renewed factional violence between members of Fateh and Hamas in the Tal as-Sultan area, west of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday evening.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed on Saturday evening that five Palestinians were injured and were transported to Abu Yousuf Al-Najjar Hospital.

Later on Saturday medical sources stated that a field leader of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam Brigades, Ahmad Fuad, and a member of the national security, Mahmoud Al-Nahal, were killed and their bodies transported to hospital.

The sources added that four others are in a critical condition due to injuries sustained during the clashes.

The confrontations erupted when the two factions attempted to implement an agreement to remove mounds of earth recently erected in the streets.

Hamas sources report that two of the injured are Hamas members.

On Thursday, a Fateh activist was killed and ten citizens injured during clashes between the two factions.

'Crossing the red line'

Palestinian health minister, Dr Radwan Akhras, called on all factions and citizens to be united and abandon infighting in order to preserve the Palestinian blood.

A statement issued by the minister said "all Palestinians should not cross the red line; everyone must respect the Palestinian blood."

The minister expressed sorrow for the killing and injury of Palestinians in factional violence on Saturday evening.

The minister condemned the violation of law and order, "which threatens the lives of civilians and national establishments."

Dr Akhras appealed to all Palestinians to "work on making the national dialogue a success and show unity in order to end all forms of killing."

Ceasing fire for Tawhiji

The general secondary exams (Tawjihi) led warring factions in the Gaza Strip to put down their weapons and allow students to attend the schools.

On Monday morning a ceasefire between the Hamas-affiliated and the Fateh-affiliated gunmen, took effect in deference to the students of Gaza.

In the morning hours, clashes stopped and the streets of Gaza City witnessed a tentative tranquillity. Despite this, gunmen continued to be deployed in the streets, although fewer than before, and the roadblocks were partially removed, in order to enable the students to arrive at their schools for the first Tawjihi exam.

Sunday night witnessed bloody confrontations as three people were killed and a fourth succumbed to wounds he sustained in the afternoon. In addition, more than 23 people were injured. The fourth dead has been named as Mohammed Al-Barba from the Al-Qassam Brigades. He sustained wounds during the clashes at Tal as Sultan, west of Rafah.

Last updated 2.18pm Monday Jerusalem time

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