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Palestinians strip to show they are not carrying weapons
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| By Israel Insider staff August 3, 2008 |
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Israel was sending Fatah fighters back to Gaza Sunday morning, a day after they fled from the Strip following fighting with Hamas. West Bank chieftain Mahmoud Abbas, apparently fearing for his own stability, refused to allow them to pass through Israel and enter the West Bank.
As a result, the IDF sent them back where they came from, where they were all promptly arrested by Hamas. Any not involved in "criminal acts" would be released, he said. However, it is believed that their activities the previous day may be classified as criminal or treasonous.
Ironically, Israel was saying that any in danger of arrest would not be sent back, in accordance with the orders of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Israel also said it was not immediately returning the 22 who were hospitalized.
The decision to allow the group to enter Israel was made in coordination with Israeli political officials, reportedly at the request of Abbas himself. However, it was believed that the Palestinian leader might fear that allowing the men to stay in the West Bank would be handing Hamas a victory while weakening his own supporters in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Saturday IDF soldiers endangered their own lives to assist the fleeing Fatah fighters to escape. Some threw down their weapons near the border and took off their clothes to prove they were not carrying weapons.
Nine Palestinians were reported killed - including members of both Fatah and Hamas security forces - and more than 90 were wounded in Saturday's fighting.
One of the wounded men, Shadi Hilles, was hospitalized Sunday morning in Ashkelon. He said he was wounded when Hamas attacked the clan's compound with shoulder-launched rockets and mortars, forcing him to crawl through nearby fields to safety. "We crawled to the border, that was our solution, and I think we stayed at the border for two or three hours until the army let the injured enter," he said.
A Hamas spokesman, appearing on Israel Army Radio, blamed Israel.
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