Fatah, Hamas supporters exchange gunfire in Gaza

Last update - 20:17 22/04/2006

Fatah, Hamas supporters exchange gunfire in Gaza

By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Supporters of the rival Fatah and Hamas groups exchanged gunfire and hurled firebombs at each other on Saturday after Hamas' political chief accused Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah of being a traitor.

Dozens of Palestinian protesters were wounded in the clashes, the worst between the groups in several months. Fighting began when student supporters of the factions hurled stones at one another outside Gaza universities and intensified when gunmen joined in.

Medics said 20 people were wounded. Police forces were unable to control the hours-long clashes, witnesses said.


Fatah's Revolutionary Council, its main decision making body, issued a statement late Friday condemning remarks made Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal on Friday, accusing him of "igniting and preparing for civil war."
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http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=707592&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0

It would be so much more peaceful that way, don't you think?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B301418E-DEFC-48D2-A3B5-512779102075.htm


Hamas, Fatah supporters clash in Gaza


Saturday 22 April 2006, 17:00 Makka Time, 14:00 GMT


Fatah activists took to the streets in Gaza and West Bank

Students supporting the Fatah party and the radical Islamic group Hamas have clashed in Gaza, throwing stones at each other.

The clashes on Saturday began when dozens of Fatah supporters at Al-Azhar University, a strongly pro-Fatah institution, climbed on to the roof of a building, unfurled the party's yellow flag and began throwing rocks on students at the Islamic University, next door.

The Islamist students, supporters of Hamas, stoned them back.


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