| Is lunch over *already*? That was some mighty fine pie. |
Hamas, which leads a Palestinian unity government with Abbas's Fatah faction, confirmed the nearly three-hour-long gun battle near Karni but said the Presidential Guard initiated the exchange. A senior Western security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were several injuries on the Hamas side. Hamas had no immediate comment on whether its forces sustained any casualties.
The Western security source said Hamas attacked the same position, a Presidential Guard training base next to Karni, on May 15 at the height of last month's factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas. Tuesday's flare-up near Karni was the most serious since a shaky ceasefire between Fatah and Hamas took hold two weeks ago after a wave of factional fighting killed some 50 Palestinians.
A senior Western security source said between 50 and 100 Hamas militants took part in the morning assault, but those figures could not be independently confirmed. "They (the Hamas militants) tried to take over the crossing but were repulsed," the Western security source said.