GAZA CITY, 12 June 2007 — Ministers were forced to flee the building as the Palestinian government headquarters came under fire while the Cabinet was meeting yesterday, deepening an especially brutal wave of factional violence.
Nine people have been killed since fighting between Fatah and Hamas factions resumed over the weekend, and the attacks have grown increasingly brazen. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home was shot at early yesterday, hours after two militants from the rival sides were dragged onto high-rise rooftops and thrown to their deaths.
The fighting also marred the first day of matriculation exams for thousands of high school students in Gaza. With the students in mind, Haniyeh, of Hamas, and President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah urged the sides to maintain calm. But their efforts to reach a cease-fire quickly broke down.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout Gaza City during the day, intensifying several times.
Mohammed Madhoun, an aide to Haniyeh, said the government building did not appear to be deliberately targeted. Instead, he said it was caught in the crossfire between rival Fatah and Hamas forces perched on the roofs of nearby buildings.
“The ministers are gone and the shooting is indiscriminate,” he said.
In other violence, gunmen attacked Haniyeh’s home and the offices of the Hamas-run Youth and Sports Ministry. There were no reports of injuries.
Haniyeh’s office wouldn’t say whether he was home during the pre-dawn shooting. But his wife, children and grandchildren were inside, his family said. It was the first time in a month of infighting that Haniyeh was an apparent target.
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, a Hamas fighter was killed in fighting against Fatah, Hamas said.
Abbas, a moderate who has repeatedly condemned the violence, appealed for calm as students began taking their graduation exams in Gaza and the West Bank.
“This is shameful for our people,” Abbas said during a trip to a school in the West Bank. “I call on everyone to stop this immediately, not only because of the examinations, but also for our people to live a normal life.” About 24,000 high-school seniors in Gaza were beginning two weeks of final exams yesterday, along with more than 40,000 others in the West Bank.
Daliya Naji, a 16-year-old student in Gaza City, said the fighting had kept her awake all night, and said she was having trouble concentrating.
“I am a good student, but I feel my brain is empty,” she said ahead of her exams. “I can’t think any more and I don’t know what to do.” She said she hoped she would pass her exams in order to be accepted by a university in Egypt. “At least it will be my ticket out of Gaza,” she said.
The exams went smoothly, though Hamas said the son of one of its members was kidnapped by Fatah forces as he returned home from school. There was no confirmation of the claim.
Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent power struggle since Hamas defeated Fatah in January 2006 legislative elections, ending four decades of Fatah rule. Hamas brought Fatah into its government in March in an effort to quell the internal strife, but the fighting reignited in mid-May over an unresolved dispute over who controls the powerful security forces. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 67 people have been killed in the past month of fighting, most of them fighters.
Negotiators from the sides met three times yesterday in attempts to restore a truce. But they were unable to halt the fighting. The fighting took a grisly turn on Sunday, when Hamas fighters kidnapped a member of Abbas’ elite presidential guard, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him to his death.
— With input from agencies
