Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Rival Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at two Gaza hospitals Monday and Cabinet ministers fled their weekly meeting after the government headquarters was caught in the crossfire in the latest round in an increasingly brutal power struggle between Hamas and Fatah.
In all, nine Palestinians were killed Monday, including three shot dead in Beit Hanoun Hospital in northern Gaza. At Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, combatants fired mortars, grenades and assault rifles.
After sundown, gunmen, apparently from Hamas, laid siege to the house of Jamal Abu al-Jediyan, the senior Fatah official in northern Gaza, then dragged him outside and killed him, security officials said.
The battles came a day after two militants from the rival sides were dragged onto high- rise rooftops and thrown to their death in a conflict that appears to be rapidly descending into all-out confrontation. Early Monday morning, shots were fired at Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home.
Appeals for calm by the leaders of the two rival camps, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Haniyeh of Hamas, went unheeded. Repeated attempts to secure a cease-fire have failed.
The bloodiest clash of the day took place in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Fatah and Hamas gunmen exchanged fire near the hospital, killing a Hamas supporter. The battle then moved to the hospital, where three men from a Fatah-allied clan were shot dead.
Monday’s deaths brought to 74 the number of Palestinians killed since the latest round of infighting erupted in May. The violence overshadowed attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian contacts.
Last week, Abbas called off a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; aides said he did not want to hold talks unless he could be assured of results.
Monday’s fighting marred the first day of matriculation exams for thousands of high school students in Gaza. Gunfire could be heard throughout Gaza City during the day.
