GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas forces battled Fatah-linked fighters with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza neighborhood Saturday, leaving at least nine dead in the worst Palestinian infighting in nine months.
About 88 people were injured, 12 of them children, hospital officials said.
Loud explosions and gunfire could be heard throughout the day in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyeh, a stronghold of the Fatah-allied Hilles clan. Hamas accuses the clan of hiding suspects behind a car bombing last week that killed five activists of the Islamic militant group.
Hamas and the largely secular, Western-backed Fatah have waged a violent struggle for control of Gaza for years, but there have been few signs of Fatah resistance since Hamas seized control of the strip in June 2007.
Relations between the factions deteriorated sharply last week after the car bombing that killed Hamas militants in Gaza, and each side has been cracking down on political opponents with growing intensity.
The Gaza clashes began when Hamas raided Shijaiyeh under heavy morning fog. Security forces stormed several high-rise buildings and rounded up rooftop snipers, gunmen and wounded fighters, said Islam Shahwan, a Hamas police spokesman.
Heavy battles with mortars and machine guns ensued. Three Hamas policemen and a Hilles member were killed, hospital officials said.
Ahmed Hilles, a clan leader and Fatah official, said Hamas police cut off electricity as they launched the raid. He explained why the clan fought back.
“You have to decide: either be trampled under Hamas’ shoes, or stand in dignity,” he told The Associated Press by telephone. Hilles apparently fled to Israel later in the day.
By Saturday afternoon, Hamas police had seized control of Shijaiyeh, home to about 100,000 people. In all, more than 50 people were arrested, Hamas said.
