GAZA CITY, 19 July 2006 — In what appeared to be renewed violence between Hamas fighters and President Mahmoud Abbas’ loyalists, gunmen yesterday stormed the home of a senior Palestinian security officer in Gaza, killing his bodyguard.
However, the governing Hamas movement said it had no part in the attack on the home of Nabil Tammous. He is a senior member of the Preventive Security Service, loyal to Abbas, and known to be at odds with Hamas.
Despite the Hamas denial, security sources from Abbas’ camp said they still suspected attackers were linked to Hamas that defeated the president’s Fatah movement in January elections. The security sources said gunmen stormed Tammous’ house and shot one guard, then blew up the house. They said the gunmen captured three other guards and had taken them away.
Violence between armed Hamas and Fatah followers was largely put on hold last month when Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip to try to recover a soldier captured in a raid by Hamas’ armed wing and two other groups.
Meanwhile, residents of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza dug through the rubble of their damaged homes and UN schools yesterday, after Israeli troops pulled out following two days of attacks.
About 15 tanks moved out of populated areas of Beit Hanoun late Monday and headed toward the nearby Israeli border. Five helicopters hovered overhead, firing flares and machine guns to provide cover for the ground forces.
Israeli troops clashed with Palestinians in the town on Monday, killing two and wounding four others, hospital officials said. That raised the two-day death toll in the area to at least six Palestinians, the officials said.
The operation in Beit Hanoun was the latest stage of Israel’s wider offensive in the Gaza Strip. It was launched June 28 after Hamas-linked groups carried out a cross-border attack on a military outpost, killing two soldiers and capturing one. Israel has rejected the groups’ demand that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about the Israeli captive.
— With input from agencies
