Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a top Fatah official early today in Gaza City, killing five bodyguards inside, Palestinian security officials said.
Hamas gunmen fired mortars at the house of Fatah security chief Rashid Abu Shbak before storming it and planting pipe bombs inside, the officials said.
The attack comes after a brutal day of factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah rivals in Gaza that killed 15 people, confining terrified residents to their homes. On Tuesday, Hamas gunmen riddled a Fatah police jeep with gunfire at close range, killing eight policemen.
Gunmen in black ski masks took up positions in the streets and scared residents huddled in their homes. Israel, too, was briefly drawn into the battle.
“I don’t know when it’s going to end and what the future will bring,” said Salman Abu Arafeh, 42, a Gaza City interior decorator who was pinned down in his apartment for hours with his wife and two children.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the immediate implementation of a security plan that would put all rival forces under one command.
However, his call is unlikely to be heeded: The fighting made it clear the Hamas-Fatah power struggle was never really resolved, despite the formation of the unity government in March.
Gaza’s turmoil further weakened hopes for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, despite a new push by the Arab world to bring the sides to the table, based on an offer of Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.
Israel has expressed major reservations, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday that he’s ready to meet with Arab leaders to discuss the idea.
Negotiations, however, are inconceivable if the Palestinians descend into a protracted civil war.
