GAZA CITY: Eleven people, including a police officer and an infant, were killed yesterday in a fresh outbreak of internecine Palestinian clashes in the Gaza Strip, the worst in more than a month. At least 40 people were wounded.
The fierce gunbattle took place in Al-Sabara neighborhood of Gaza City between the Hamas-run police and members of the powerful Dughmush clan.
The fighting began when police raided the area before dawn, seeking to arrest three members of the Dughmush family who were allegedly involved in the killing of a policeman a day before, local and official sources said.
Sound of machine-gun fire and heavy explosions could be heard from the Dughmush family quarters during the night.
On Sunday, a Hamas policeman was killed and another officer was wounded when they tried to arrest a member of Dughmush family in the center of Gaza City. The three men the police had been looking for — Jamil, Saeb and Ibrahim Dughmush — were all killed in the fighting, Islam Shehwan, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, told reporters. Another 15 people were arrested.
“This was not a campaign against the Dughmush family. It only targeted some members of the family involved in security chaos,” Shehwan said.
The police said they also seized weapons and explosives during the raid.
The Dughmush family is known for its support to the Army of Islam, which kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston in 2007. The group also coordinated with Hamas in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who is still being held in Gaza.
