GAZA CITY, 8 June 2007 — A Palestinian security officer was killed yesterday in the first deadly clashes between rival Fatah and Hamas gunmen to scar the Gaza Strip since a truce began nearly three weeks ago.
Another 17 Palestinians were wounded in the violence that erupted west of Rafah, in the southern part of the increasingly impoverished and radicalized Gaza Strip, before spreading downtown, medical sources and witnesses said.
The dead man was named as Wael Wahbeh, a security officer and activist in the secular Fatah movement headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, which has been locked in periodic factional fighting with loyalists of Islamist rivals Hamas.
The clashes later subsided and both sides agreed with Egyptian mediators and the Islamic Jihad faction to pull armed men from the streets and open an inquiry into who was responsible for the infraction, security sources said.
The fighting came two days after Abbas warned in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of Israeli occupation of land conquered in the 1967 war that recent violence had left the Palestinians “on the verge of a civil war.”
On May 19, Palestinian factions concluded their latest cease-fire deal with Egyptian mediators, drawing a line under a previous spate of clashes between Fatah and Hamas sympathizers that left more than 50 people dead.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security officials loyal to Abbas have asked Israel’s permission to import anti-tank missiles, grenades and millions of bullets to fight Hamas, Israeli and Palestinian security officials said yesterday.
The request comes as a truce halting the latest deadly round of Palestinian infighting teetered on the brink of collapse, with clashes reigniting and exacting their first fatality.
Under interim peace accords, Israeli permission is necessary for military equipment to enter Palestinian territories, and a broad bush request by forces dominated by Fatah has been on the table for months.
Israeli security officials said a detailed request was submitted in recent days, and that Israel was discussing the issue with the US security coordinator in the region, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton. Palestinian security officials confirmed that a request to bring in military equipment had been submitted. Officials on both sides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential military deliberations.
A Dayton spokesman had no comment. A senior Western diplomat said the US “was playing no central role in this matter.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss US involvement for the record.
Israel has given permission for weapons imports in the past, most recently in March, but there is widespread opposition to this particular request, in part because security officials fear the equipment would fall into Hamas’ hands and be trained against Israeli targets, officials said.
