GAZA CITY, 27 January 2007 — Twelve Palestinians were killed and over a dozen wounded in renewed armed clashes between rival Palestinian groups in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday.
The clashes erupted after a car was targeted by gunmen late Thursday. Eight Hamas supporters, two militants from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and two bystanders, including a 2-year-old boy, were killed in the clashes, witnesses and medical sources said.
Since Thursday, 19 Palestinians have been abducted — 11 Hamas supporters and eight Fatah members — in tit-for-tat kidnappings.
The escalating violence forced the postponement of talks to form a coalition government which could ease a US-led boycott imposed after Hamas won Palestinian elections last January.
“The entire dialogue could explode,” Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, blaming Hamas for the tension. “How can dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?” The talks, which were to resume yesterday, were pushed back to Sunday.
More than 30 Palestinians have been killed in fighting between rival groups since President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called last month for presidential and parliamentary elections after a previous round of unity talks broke down.
Hamas has said any snap poll would amount to a coup. Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal pledged Sunday to curb Palestinian bloodshed after inconclusive talks to form a unity government aimed at lifting the boycott imposed because of Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals.
Hamas, which has struggled to govern since taking office in March under the weight of the sanctions, was holding a rally in Gaza to mark a year since its Jan. 25, 2006, victory over Fatah.
“I can say that the parties which imposed the siege throughout the past year were unable to achieve their goals,” Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told reporters after Friday prayers at a Gaza mosque.
— Additional input from agencies
