Qalqiliya -- Ma'an -- A daylong standoff between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas gunmen has ended with three people dead in the West Bank city of Qalqiliya on Thursday. PA security officials said they moved into the building where the clashes took place to find the dead bodies of two men, and a third injured, believed to be members of Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The two were apparently gunned down.
Which would explain the bullet wounds...
Bled to death from foot wounds, did they ...
Earlier a Palestinian Authority (PA) security officer was killed by a grenade thrown by the Hamas men, who were holed up in a building in the vicinity of the local Bank of Palestine branch. Two other PA officers were lightly injured after coming under fire.
Yer surrounded, Mahmoud! Be a good lad and come out with ya hands up!
Eat steel, ya lousy coppers!
BOOM!
Qalqiliya Governor Rabih Al-Khandaqji said that the armed men had hid in a bunker inside the building, confirming that the PA officer was killed. He added that the PA brought the mother and the brother of one of the Al-Qassam Brigades members to the building to convince him to surrender peacefully.
It's ya sainted mother, Mahmoud! Be a good boyo and come out with ya hands up! Jimmy's here too, he wants to see ya!
Go home, Ma!
Okay, boys! Give'em the gas!
Adnan Ad-Demeiri, spokesperson for the PA security forces, identified the slain officer Riyad Zin Ad-Din, 26. He said two others were lightly injured after the were shot by Al-Qassam affiliates at the beginning of the operation.
Sounds like the Hamas goons "sensed the presence of law enforcers"...
The spokesperson did not confirm reports that the Hamas fighters were killed by waste water pumped inside a tunnel the men were hiding in, nor that poisonous gas was used against them.
Geez, the Joooos do that and the UN starts setting up a war crimes trial...
It's one way to get rid of all the waste water since the Juice bombed the sewage treatment plant ...
"The PA security forces use non-fatal methods like water and gas, but they do not kill," he said.
Well, not usually...
An investigation into the deaths was underway on Thursday.
Leave no stone unturned, men! I'll notify Dr. Quincy!
Meanwhile, Hamas announced the deaths of its three affiliates, identifying them as Mohammad A'tieyah, Iyad Al-Abtali and Ala' Thiab. PA security sources denied the killing of Thiab, saying he was lightly injured and surrendered to security forces, who arrested him.
See! He's fine! Pssst...pull that rope around Ala's wrist so he can wave...
The clashes come just days after six people were killed in a Hamas-PA shootout in Qalqiliya, the worst episode of internecine violence in the West Bank in two years. On Wednesday an Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson said that fighters would violently resist any PA attempt to arrest them.
Grrrr! Woof! To the last drop of blood!
Gaza-based Hamas leader Ahmad Bahar earlier urged the PA to end the standoff and release the Al-Qassam Brigades fighters. The Hamas movement in the West Bank also called on Egypt to intervene and deescalate the crisis. Their appeals were apparently had no effect.
What? Can't hear yas! Must be a bad cell. Call back later...
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa television reported that there were three fighters holed up inside the building, including one named Hussam Atiyeh. The surrounded building is owned by Abdel Fattah Shreim, who was arrested by the PA.
That your house, Abdel?
Ummmmmmmm...why?
Al-Khandaqji, the Qalqiliya governor, also accused Hamas of attempting to repeat its 2007 takeover of Gaza in the West Bank.
...and I've got to protect my phony baloney job!
Also on Wednesday Hamas said that PA forces arrested 12 Hamas members during raids in Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarem, and Jenin. Hamas released the names of the arrestees, which they said included the director of Al-Aqsa television in Hebron.
Didn't get that "violent resistance" memo I guess...
Brigadier Thyab Al-Ali, the head of PA's National Security force in the West Bank, and police chief Brigadier Hazem Atallah, arrived in Qalqiliya to follow up on events.
Damn! What are they doin here? C'mon, men. Look like your doin sumthin...