HAMAS, FATAH WAR SPREADS TO W. BANK
RAMALLAH — The Fatah-Hamas militia war has spread from the Gaza
Strip to the West Bank.
Palestinian sources said Fatah fighters, many of them Palestinian
Authority security officers, have been attacking Hamas operatives in the
West Bank. The sources said most of the strikes have focused on Hamas's
growing presence in the central and northern West Bank, particularly the
cities of Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah.
"Hamas wants to build a militia in the West Bank, something that Fatah
vows will never happen," a Palestinian source said. "But Hamas has the money
to spread around and recruit gunmen, even from Fatah."
On Jan. 3, Fatah forces attacked the home of PA Prisoners Affairs
Minister Wasfa Kabha in Jenin. Kabha, a senior Hamas operative in the West
Bank, was not home, and nobody was injured.
The sources said Fatah has concentrated its attacks on Hamas officials
in the PA. They said Fatah abducted Deputy Health Minister Bashar Karmi, a
Hamas member, in the West Bank town of El Bireh. Karmi was released five
hours later.
Hamas has established a personal security force for senior operatives,
particularly in the PA, the sources said. They said the bodyguards comprised
the first troops of the Interior Ministry's Executive Force in the Gaza
Strip.
[On Thursday, the Israeli military raided Ramallah. Palestinian sources
said Israeli troops, backed by attack helicopters, surrounded a suspected
insurgency stronghold, and four
Palestinians were killed in the ensuing battle. The Palestinian fugitive
escaped.]
In the Gaza Strip, Fatah and Hamas continued battling around Gaza City,
and seven people were killed. Fatah said a senior officer of the Preventive
Security Apparatus and his wife were killed by Hamas forces. The officer was
identified as Brig. Gen. Mohammed Gharib, PSA chief in northern Gaza and
killed in his home in Beit Lahiya.
"Weapons must only be directed against the Israeli occupation," PA Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said on Thursday.
