GAZA CITY — The Fatah movement of the late Yasser Arafat and now headed by Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has launched an offensive against Hamas which is expected to escalate.
Unidentified Palestinian gunmen believed to have been
Fatah members shot and killed at least two Hamas military operatives and
injured two others, Middle East Newsline reported. Palestinian sources said the Hamas operatives were
ambushed near their homes and offices.
"The civil war has begun," a PA security source said. "We're going to
see major battles in the days to come."
On Wednesday, a Hamas operative, identified as Bilal Abu Qasiya, was
killed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jabalya, Palestinian security
sources said. Jabalya, north of Gaza City, has been a battleground for Fatah
and Hamas.
Earlier, at least three Palestinians shot dead Hamas commander Mohammed
Tatar as he was driving near the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in
Gaza City. The sources said Tuesday's shooting marked the first time a
senior Hamas military operative was targeted by Fatah since the movement
captured the PA in April.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack. But Palestinian sources
believe the assailants were members of the Fatah military wing.
Hours earlier, two people were injured when Hamas operatives attacked
the home of an officer of the PA Preventive Security Apparatus in Gaza City.
Sources said PSA and Hamas fighters exchanged fire and two cars that
belonged to the officer, identified as Tahir Khwaiter, were bombed.
In Khan Yunis, masked gunmen shot and critically wounded another senior
Hamas operative and injured a second Hamas member. The senior operative,
identified as Mohammed Musabeh, had been sitting in a barber shop near Khan
Yunis, a stronghold of Hamas, on Tuesday.
"The identities of the traitors are known to us and we will chase them
down and sever the hand that harms us," Hamas's military wing said in a
statement on Wednesday.
Hours earlier, a bomb exploded in front of the home of PA director of
border crossings Salim Abu Safiyeh. Nobody was injured.
On May 7, three Palestinian insurgency operatives were killed and a
dozen people were injured in a battle between Fatah and Hamas. Three days
later, the two groups agreed to establish a joint committee to defuse
tensions.
