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Grenade Fired at Home of Palestinian PM Haniyeh NewsMax.com Wires GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of the Hamas prime minister Tuesday, while his fighters captured several positions from the rival Fatah movement and threatened to step up the offensive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused his Hamas rivals of staging a coup and called for a cease-fire. There were no injuries in the attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's home - the second in two days. But it underscored the increasingly ruthless nature of the fighting, which has killed 18 people in recent days. Exasperated Egyptian mediators said the bitter rivals turned down an appeal to meet for truce talks. Heavy gunbattles erupted in what security officials described as a Hamas assault on positions of the Fatah-allied security forces. Hamas-affiliated radio stations said the group took over security installations in northern and central Gaza, as well as the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Hamas gunmen attacked the headquarters of the security forces in northern Gaza, a key prize in the bloody power struggle between the two sides. About 200 Hamas fighters surrounded the compound, where some 500 Fatah gunmen were holed up, and fired mortars and RPGs at the building in the Jebaliya refugee camp. Hamas also demanded that Fatah-allied security forces abandon their positions, threatening to attack those who remained. "The warning which we have given you to surrender has ended, and we will attack this position of Zionist collaborators," Hamas warned over a mosque loudspeaker in Gaza City, shortly before taking up positions near the headquarters of the pro-Fatah Preventive Security Service. Later, there were heavy exchanges of fire. Story Continues Below
In the West Bank, where Fatah forces are much stronger, Fatah gunmen threatened to retaliate by killing Hamas leaders. Hamas said its deputy transportation minister was seized by Fatah gunmen. Abbas called for an immediate end to fighting. "In order to protect the higher national interests of our people, and to try stop the bloodshed, I, in my position as the head of the Palestinian Authority and the head of all security forces call for an immediate halt to fire," Abbas said after meeting with Fatah leaders at his West Bank headquarters. His statement also called for a joint meeting with Egyptian mediators to end the fighting, which has killed 80 people in the past month. Col. Nasser Khaldi, a Fatah commander in southern Gaza, confirmed his men were on the defensive. "There is a weakness of our leaders," he said. "Hamas is just taking over our positions. There are no orders." Streets were deserted in the southern town of Khan Younis. A member of the Fatah-allied forces there said Hamas took several smaller Fatah positions, but that the main compound was still under Fatah control. The officer said Hamas took over an adjacent building. "Our orders are to defend ourselves if they come, but not to attack," he said. Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a violent power struggle since Hamas defeated Fatah in January 2006 legislative elections, ending four decades of Fatah rule. The sides agreed to share power in an uneasy coalition three months ago, but put off key disputes, including control of the security forces. Most of the forces are dominated by Fatah loyalists, while Hamas formed its own militia in the past year in addition to the thousands of gunmen at its command. In the past two days, 18 Palestinians have been killed in increasingly brutal violence. Some people were shot execution-style or were hit in shootouts that turned hospitals into battle grounds, while others were thrown from rooftops. Residents huddled indoors, and students' exams were canceled or moved. Both sides described the fighting as all-out civil war and used Web sites and text messages to call for the death of the other's military and political leaders. The head of the Egyptian mediation team, Lt. Col. Burhan Hamad, said neither side responded to his call for truce talks. "It seems they don't want to come. We must make them ashamed of themselves. They have killed all hope. They have killed the future," said Hamad, who brokered several previous short-lived cease-fires. Hamad said both sides were about equal in firepower, with neither able to have "a decisive victory. To be decisive, they need weapons that neither side has." He said he would call civilians into the streets to protest if the rivals did not agree to stand down. Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for the Hamas militia, brushed aside the latest truce efforts. "It's all talk. It's not serious," he said. A gunbattle erupted at the European Hospital in Khan Younis when Hamas gunmen controlling the rooftop traded fire with Fatah-allied security forces. Fifteen children attending a kindergarten in the line of fire were rushed into the hospital. The RPG hit Haniyeh's home in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City while the family was inside, said his son, Abdel Salam. A Hamas Web site described the incident as an assassination attempt by Fatah. "They crossed all the red lines," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. Elsewhere, a member of the Hamas military wing was kidnapped and killed by Fatah gunmen. The victim was identified as a cousin of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader Israel assassinated in 2004. Hamas gunmen attacked the home of a senior Fatah security official with mortars and grenades, killing his 14-year-old son and three women, security officials said. Other Fatah gunmen stormed the house of a Hamas lawmaker and burned it down. The fighting also spilled into the West Bank, with Palestinian security forces seizing two employees of the Hamas-linked Al Aqsa TV station in Ramallah. Fatah gunmen said Hamas leaders in the West Bank, a Fatah stronghold, would be targeted if Hamas doesn't halt its attacks in Gaza.
© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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