Dozens of Hamas militants Sunday rushed to the aid of a Cabinet minister confronted by angry gunmen, sparking a shootout that wounded three people in the latest explosion of infighting in the Gaza Strip.The incident showed how the new Hamas-led government is turning to its private army to impose order as it battles the rival Fatah movement for control of Palestinian security forces.
The power struggle has grown increasingly contentious in recent days since Hamas announced it would form a security agency headed by a militant wanted by Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah vetoed the plan, leading to clashes and protests.
The two sides agreed early Sunday to work to end the tensions, but the pledge quickly degenerated into new violence. Thousands of Fatah activists joined anti-Hamas protests in the West Bank, hours before the shootout at the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
The shootout came a day after Health Minister Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, said he was cutting $2 million from the monthly health budget to help alleviate a government financial crisis by halting payments for patients seeking treatment abroad. Gaza's health care system is poor, and Palestinians routinely travel to Israel and other countries for treatment.
On Sunday, a group of men, some armed, burst into Naim's office and demanded he authorize a medical-care trip for a relative, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Radi said.
Naim's bodyguards — Hamas militants — called for backup from their colleagues, and a brief shootout wounded three people, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.
After a 45-minute standoff, masked Hamas militants, joined by Palestinian police, retook the building, arresting gunmen. Naim left surrounded by 10 militants.
The minister's reliance on Hamas gunmen — not the Fatah-dominated security services — illustrated the deep distrust between the sides.
Abbas, a political moderate has been trying to use his already considerable powers to marginalize Hamas, which formed a Cabinet after winning January elections. Abbas favors peace talks with Israel, while Hamas calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and is listed as a terror organization by the United States and the European Union.
After Abbas tried to take control of all Palestinian security forces, Hamas responded last week with a plan to form its own shadow army made up of militants and headed by a top militant wanted by Israel.
Abbas promptly vetoed that plan, and Hamas' exiled political chief, Khaled Mashaal, accused him of cooperating with Israel and the United States and "plotting against us."
Mashaal's comments sparked angry demonstrations and exchanges of fire in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday. Mashaal he was misinterpreted.
In a meeting Sunday, Hamas and Fatah officials said they would take steps to end the fighting. But there was no agreement on the flashpoint issue of control of the security forces, participants said. Outside the meeting, mediated by Egyptian security officials, thousands of Fatah supporters shouted anti-Hamas slogans.
The protests continued Sunday. In the West Bank town of Jenin, more than 4,000 marchers chanted anti-Mashaal slogans. In Nablus, dozens of Fatah-affiliated gunmen briefly stormed the municipal building and tried to shut down the offices.
Interior Minister Said Siyam said Saturday that he would pursue his plans to create the new force — despite Abbas' veto — and would meet with its designated head, fugitive Jamal Abu Samhadana, to discuss when he would take charge. Samhadana leads the militant Popular Resistance Committees, suspected of carrying out a 2003 bombing that killed three Marine guards in a U.S. Embassy convoy in Gaza.
In an interview with the London-based Sunday Telegraph, Abu Samhadana said the force would form the "nucleus of the future Palestinian army."
"We have one enemy," Abu Samhadana said. "They are Jews ... I will continue to carry the rifle and pull the trigger whenever required to defend my people."
With Hamas in power, many Western nations froze vital financial aid to the Palestinian government. The government is nearly three weeks late paying March salaries to its 165,000 employees, and Hamas officials say they do not know when they will have the money.
In an audiotape broadcast Sunday, Osama bin Laden issued new threats, saying the West's decision to cut funds to the Palestinians proved that the United States and Europe were conducting "a Zionist crusader war on Islam."
A Hamas spokesman said the militant group's ideology is vastly different from al-Qaeda's but noted that sanctions could anger some Muslims.
"It's natural that this tension is going to create an impression that there is a Western-Israeli alliance working against the Palestinians," Sami Abu Zuhri said, adding that Hamas wants good relations with the West.
Still, the Hamas-led government was further isolated after Hamas defended an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last week that killed nine people.
Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday that the attack completed "the transformation of the Palestinian Authority to a terrorist authority."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is planning a meeting between Olmert and Abbas in a fresh bid to relaunch stalled Middle East peace talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit said Sunday. He said the meeting would occur in the coming days after formation of the new Israeli government.
Neither Israeli or Palestinian officials could confirm whether their leaders planned to attend such a summit.