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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| One dead as Hamas & Fatah clash |
| 2006-06-01 |
| A PALESTINIAN security officer was killed and seven were wounded in clashes between rival Fatah and Hamas factions in Gaza today, underscoring growing tensions in the impoverished coastal strip. Earlier, thousands of Palestinian security men fired automatic rifles and vandalised the parliament in Gaza in one of the biggest protests over unpaid wages since the Hamas government took office in March. Medics and a security official said Khader Afana, a Fatah member of the preventative security force, was killed by unknown gunmen in Gaza City. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting. In further violence, three more security officers were wounded as their vehicle was attacked in a village east of the town of Khan Younis, the security official said, accusing Hamas of the ambush. Hamas said the Fatah fighters fired at one of its senior commanders, which prompted them to return fire. A Hamas gunman was slightly hurt in the exchange. The clashes have disrupted a tenuous peace that had been in place since President Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's leader, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas-led government began talks last week to try to end violence in Gaza. Witnesses and medics said a further three Fatah members were slightly wounded in a gunbattle between Fatah and Hamas gunmen in Khan Younis early today. The government's inability to pay wages and a power struggle with Mr Abbas over control of the security forces have sparked fears tensions could spiral out of control. Clashes last month between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza killed 10 people. Protesters in Gaza criticised a plan by Mr Haniyeh, who is also a senior leader of the Hamas Islamic militant group, to make only partial payments to employees of the Palestinian Authority in the next few days. "We want to know when this tragedy will stop," one security official shouted through a loudspeaker outside the parliament building in central Gaza City. The protest occurred while lawmakers were holding a routine session. No one was hurt, but witnesses said demonstrators smashed windows and a lawmaker added they damaged doors, air-conditioners and electronic equipment. Most of the demonstrators were from forces loyal to Mr Abbas's Fatah movement. The new government has been unable to pay salaries for three months to 165,000 government workers after the United States and other western countries imposed sanctions over Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel, disarm and accept interim peace accords. The embargo has deepened a humanitarian crisis in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Mr Haniyeh pledged on Tuesday to pay a full month's wages in a few days to 40,000 workers whose monthly salaries are less than 1500 shekels ($440). He also promised to pay each of the other 125,000 government workers, who earn higher salaries, an advance of 1500 shekels ($440). The finance minister later said it was unclear when workers who earn more would get their money. Hamas formed a government in March after beating Fatah in parliamentary elections in January. Mr Abbas, a moderate, was elected separately in early 2005 in a ballot Hamas did not contest. The latest unrest comes a day after a senior UN official said international proposals to pay only some Palestinian workers, mainly in the health sector, could fuel tensions unless major donors agreed to leave the door open to expand the mechanism later to pay security forces and others. Around 70,000 security men are on the government payroll. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #7 I heard that Hamas said Fatah was 'Worse than the Joooooooosssss'. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-06-01 23:06 |
| #6 I heard that Fatah called Hamas a bunch of 'Wussy Girly Men'. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-06-01 23:05 |
| #5 That is the problem with terrorists these days. Piss poor marksmenship. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-06-01 22:08 |
| #4 Mr Abbas, a moderate, |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-06-01 21:27 |
| #3 Only one? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-06-01 20:07 |
| #2 Still preferable to renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and keeping promises, isn't it? Enjoy the fetid cesspool that is the reward of your ideologies. And stop whinging about it. Your choice, your cesspool. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-06-01 19:33 |
| #1 I wish at least one side had better marksmanship. But then that probably wouldn't work out too well for the IDF. But isn't there some way to up0 the body count? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-01 19:28 |