GAZA CITY, 21 October 2007 — Two Palestinians including a child were killed and at least 20 other people were wounded yesterday in renewed armed clashes that took place in Shijaiya neighborhood east Gaza City between the Hamas security forces backed by Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the movement, and Hillis clan, witnesses and medical sources said.
The sources said that Mohammed Al-Susi, 13, was killed during the clashes after receiving a bullet in his head, one of his brothers was also wounded in the clashes. Armed clashes between the strong Fatah-affiliated Hillis clan and the Hamas forces began last Wednesday in eastern Gaza City where four people were killed and a fifth went in a coma in addition to 30 others were wounded.
On Thursday morning, after eight hours of heavy fighting and mutual kidnapping incidents, Al-Naser Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, has succeeded in mediating between the fighting members, reaching an agreement to end the clashes.
On Wednesday night, street battles erupted between the Hillis clan and the Executive Force, a Hamas-run paramilitary unit that has policed Gaza since the Islamist movement seized control in June. Four people were killed in that round of fighting and another 30 were wounded, making it the deadliest bout of Palestinian factional infighting since Hamas seized power four months ago.
However, the two-day cease-fire collapsed yesterday morning when the family refused to hand over some of its members to Hamas security force that is controlling the Gaza Strip, local sources said. The spokesman of the deposed Interior Ministry, Ihab Al-Ghussin, told reporters yesterday that Hillis clan is responsible for the fighting after not adhering to the agreement reached on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces detained five Palestinians, including a local Hamas commander, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus yesterday, Palestinian security officials said.
Those held include Khaled Darwazi, the local commander of the Ezzeddine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, and four militants loyal to the secular Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Also yesterday, an eight-year-old girl was wounded when she was hit by an Israeli bullet as Israeli soldiers battled with Palestinian militants in Tulkarm, also in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian security officials.
Meanwhile, Abbas sought support from key Muslim allies in Asia yesterday to strengthen his position ahead of a US-hosted conference. Abbas held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose country chairs the world’s biggest Islamic political bloc, in his first stop on a tour that is also scheduled to include Indonesia and Brunei.
“We are looking right now for the best coordinating mechanism in order to achieve the best result for the conference,” Abbas told reporters in Putrajaya, noting Malaysia is invited to the gathering in November or December at Annapolis, Maryland.
Abbas said he wants to “achieve a unified position about the conference” with allies such as Malaysia, adding his meeting with Abdullah focused on “a need to coordinate efforts between the two countries to achieve a peaceful and lasting and just resolution to the conflict.”
