GAZA CITY, 17 May 2007 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction and Hamas battled for control of Gaza leaving at least 23 people dead yesterday as Israel launched a deadly round of airstrikes against the Palestinians.
Palestinian officials said the widening hostilities could bring down a two-month-old unity government formed between Hamas and Fatah. Some Palestinians see this leading to an all-out civil war and the end of the Palestinian Authority.
Terrified Gaza residents hid indoors as masked gunmen fought running battles street-to-street, killing 18 people. In one panicked call to a radio station, a woman urged Palestinian leaders to act, pleading: “Do not leave us to die here.” Israel’s biggest airstrike razed a building used by Hamas’ Executive Force in the south Gaza town of Rafah, killing four fighters. Israel said the attack was not connected to internal clashes that have killed at least 40 people since Friday.
A later airstrike in northern Gaza killed another Hamas fighter and wounded two other Palestinians, residents said.
While battles raged throughout the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired rockets at southern Israel, causing injuries but no deaths. Israel said its airstrikes, the deadliest since a November truce in Gaza was declared, targeted a Rafah command center used by Hamas to plan attacks and a rocket crew that had just fired into the Jewish state.
The Executive Force, which has taken a lead in fighting with Fatah, denied the Rafah building was used to plan rocket attacks and said the airstrikes proved Israel was taking sides.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel may step up military strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to a surge of Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes.
“Until now, we have demonstrated restraint, but this situation is not a tolerable situation,” Livni told reporters after security consultations with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
Hamas and Fatah declared a cease-fire at 1700 GMT. But fierce gunfire and explosions were still heard throughout the strip. Two Fatah security officers were killed in separate clashes. Four others were hurt. The sides traded blame on who shot first.
Earlier, Hamas gunmen stormed the home of Abbas’ top security chief, Rashid Abu Shbak, fired mortars at Abbas’ compound and set fire to a building where the head of a pro-Fatah security service lives.
At least 50 journalists were trapped in Gaza’s main media center. They said the building was surrounded by gunmen and some people inside had been injured.
Some Western officials say the government’s collapse could allow Abbas to assert more control, leading to an end to a Western aid embargo ahead of possible early polls. An official said Abbas canceled a trip to Jordan and planned to travel to Gaza today to try to restore calm. Several Fatah leaders have urged him to declare a state of emergency to allow him to rule by decree for a short time.
— With input from agencies
