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Hamas practices what it preaches (file photo)
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| By israelinsider staff May 15, 2007 |
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At least eight members of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah-linked Presidential Guard were killed on Tuesday in an attack by Hamas gunmen near the Karni crossing point, connecting Gaza with Israel.
Hamas gunmen launched the attack by firing a missile at a jeep carrying members of Fatah-affiliated security forces. Then after the jeep overturned, the Hamas men continued firing at the men inside.
Two men apparently escaped, and then were fired upon by IDF troops at the adjacent border point, killing one of them, apparently mistakenly believing that they were part of the attack force of Hamas.
Despite the shooting from the Israeli position, Hamas accused IDF soldiers of assisting the Presidential Guard officers, with officials of the terror group saying the Israeli army allowed a number of Fatah-affiliated security officers to enter its territory to seek refuge from the Hamas attacks. A Palestinian security official denied the report.
Hamas officials said that the attack came in response to the killing of Ibrahim Maniyeh, commander of the organization's military wing in the Sajaiyah neighborhood located near the crossing, YnetNews reported.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that Maniyya was killed by the presidential guards as he passed their military station in his car, east of Gaza City. The terror unit said in a statement that it would deal with the perpetrators as "collaborators with the Israeli occupation." Apparently that revenge came today.
The Hamas attack was the deadliest single incident in the latest rounds of internecine fighting, which has claimed as many as 18 lives in the last three days.
Fatah and Hamas accused each other's forces of breaking a ceasefire reached late Monday. Gunmen exchanged heavy gunfire at a security compound in Gaza City. One Hamas man was killed in fighting early Tuesday in Gaza City in a shootout with Palestinian security, Palestinian security officials said.
Violence erupted around roadblocks set up by the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian security who stopped cars filled with Hamas gunmen.
With the death toll mounting, Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh resigned on
Monday and accused leaders on both sides of thwarting his efforts to halt the violence. The career civil servant had been a compromise candidate for the top security post after formation of the unity government in March. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced Tuesday that he would be filling the role temporarily.
Universities were closed because of the violence. Many parents kept their children home from school. A Palestinian parliament session was also canceled.
"It's a curfew out there, masked men everywhere and kidnappings," said Shereen Abu Hassira, 36, who made her five school-age children stay inside Monday.
At the heart of the new Palestinian fighting is a dispute over who controls the security forces. Most of the 80,000 security officers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, while Hamas has set up its own 6,000-strong militia.
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