GAZA CITY — The Palestinian Authority has urged Westerners to leave
the Gaza Strip amid the war between Fatah and Hamas.
Officials said the PA has advised all foreigners, particularly
Westerners, to leave the Gaza Strip immediately. They said the PA's
Preventive Security Apparatus has determined that Fatah and Hamas could
abduct Westerners in efforts to escalate the militia war.
"We have information that there will be a wave of abductions of
foreigners over the next few days," an official said. "We are telling all
foreign staffers to leave."
On Wednesday, five people were killed in fighting between the two rival
movements, Middle East Newsline reported. They included three Fatah operatives as well as a bodyguard for
Interior Minister Said Siyam, a Hamas leader.
The official also said PSA, under control of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas,
has asked Western embassies, particularly Britain and the United States, not
to send delegations to the Gaza Strip. He said the alert would continue
through next week.
On Jan. 1, a Pervian national and cameraman for the Paris-based Agence
France Press was abducted. Officials said the cameraman, Jaime Razuri, could
remain captive for an extended period in an attempt to win the release of
prisoners already held by Fatah and Hamas.
In 2006, 17 foreigners were abducted in the Gaza Strip. Two members of
the U.S. television network Fox News were held for two weeks in August.
Israeli and U.S. diplomats said they have received alerts of plans by
Fatah operatives to abduct Americans and other Westerners. They said Fatah
has sought to kidnap Americans or Jews in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Fatah and Hamas officers from rival PA security agencies
continued to clash in the Gaza Strip. Three officers from the Fatah-aligned
Preventive Security Apparatus were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade
fired by Hamas attackers struck a PSA jeep in Khan Yunis.
Two other members of the PSA were said to have been abducted by Hamas.
Palestinian sources identified one of them as Moutaz Al Tawil, deputy PSA
chief in Khan Yunis.
The fighting in the Gaza Strip has disrupted another tour of Arab League
states by PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Aides said Haniyeh would skip
the last leg of his current tour, meant to have included Jordan, Kuwait and
Qatar, and return to the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, was meant to meet Abbas, who represents Fatah.
On Thursday, at least two more people were injured in Fatah-Hamas clashes.