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Palestinian Bombing Stokes Tensions
PeoplePC news ^ | Saturday, May 20, 2006 | unknown

Posted on 05/20/2006 4:57:37 PM PDT by Hugin

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An apparent attempt to assassinate Gaza's intelligence chief with a bomb planted at his headquarters Saturday heightened tensions between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Hours after the explosion, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a car in Gaza City and killed Mohammed Dadouh, top military commander of the small militant group Islamic Jihad, Palestinian officials said. Three others traveling in a car behind Dadouh's - a mother, her 5-year-old son and the child's grandmother - also were killed.

The army said Dadouh was responsible for firing rockets at Israeli towns. Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge his killing.

Abbas' security forces hinted that Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, was behind the bomb that seriously wounded Tareq Abu Rajab, the Palestinian intelligence chief and a key ally of the moderate Abbas.

It was the latest incident to strain relations between the rival Palestinian factions in Gaza. Hamas ordered its newly formed 3,000-strong militia to take to the streets this week in blatant disregard for opposition by Abbas, who has official control of the Palestinian security forces.

The new Hamas militia and Fatah-run security forces have been in a tense standoff the past few days, evidenced by street gunfights that some analysts say may be the beginning of a broader civil war.

Abu Rajab's deputy, Tawfiq Tirawi, was quick to point out at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Hamas had been behind the previous attempt to kill his boss, a senior official in Fatah.

Asked whether Hamas also was responsible for Saturday's attack, Tirawi said: "Everything is possible. I don't rule anything out for now."

He said the intelligence services had the names of Hamas members responsible for the previous assassination attempt on Abu Rajab.

"I am not going to pour fuel on the fire, but at the same time I warn that playing with fire will burn the hands of those who are doing it," he said.

Some Fatah members called on Abbas to dissolve the Hamas government and call an early election. Abbas called the blast "unfortunate" and said it posed a "grave danger" to the Palestinian Authority.

He also promised to open a dialogue with Hamas leaders within five days to end violence.

"There is a crisis. We have to look for a solution," he told reporters at a news conference on the fringe of the World Economic Forum in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

A group calling itself the Fatah Protection Unit also demanded that Hamas disband its militia within three days. If the militia is not dismantled, "we are ready to deploy our men and our fighters in the streets ... to protect Fatah men and all of Palestinian society," the statement said.

The homemade bomb that blew up the intelligence headquarters in Gaza City was packed with metal pellets and planted under the elevator's floor, Tirawi said.

Abu Rajab and six aides and bodyguards got into the elevator and were close to the second floor when the blast occurred just before noon. A bodyguard was killed immediately, and Abu Rajab and five others in the elevator were wounded seriously.

The blast hurt three others, including a secretary riding in an adjacent elevator, doctors said.

Abu Rajab underwent surgery at nearby Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where doctors stopped his bleeding and stabilized him before transferring him to the Israeli hospital Ichilov in Tel Aviv.

Abu Rajab, his head bandaged and his neck in a brace, was taken in a heavily guarded Palestinian ambulance to the Israel-Gaza border crossing. Lying on a bloody sheet, he was rolled on a gurney to the waiting Israeli vehicle for immediate treatment.

After his arrival at Ichilov, the hospital said Abu Rajab was in serious condition, under sedation and hooked up to a respirator. Dr. Dror Sofer said Abu Rajab was being operated on for orthopedic injuries.

"I'm optimistic about his chances to live," Sofer was quoted as saying on Web site affiliated with the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

The other victims were driven to Shifa in intelligence service cars. Agents fired in the air from the windows of the vehicles to clear the way.

Several members of a new Hamas militia fired toward the vehicles, possibly believing they were coming under attack from the rival Fatah-ruled security forces, witnesses said.

Moheeb Alnawati, a political analyst from Gaza, said he expected more incidents like Saturday's.

"We are heading toward a wide confrontation between Fatah and Hamas. It does not have to be civil war, but a broad confrontation that could spread to the West Bank," Alnawati said.

Signs of a broader conflict were evident in the West Bank. In Jenin, a Fatah leader said his group was forming a "popular army" of 2,500 people.

In Ramallah, an intelligence official said Hamas was recruiting and buying weapons, apparently in preparation for an all-out war with Fatah.

Tirawi said there already was civil war.

"What can we say - the violence in the street, the killings, the assassinations. What other name can we give it?" he said.

In Gaza, Hamas tried to calm the situation. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas canceled all Saturday appointments and formed a committee to investigate the incident, government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said.

"We are asking not to make early judgments, accusations or responses that might lead to tension in the Palestinian streets," Hamad said, in apparent anticipation of Hamas being blamed for the bombing.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gazacity; palestinancivilwar
Fatah and Hamas terroists thugs killing each other off wholesale? Make some popcorn and kick back, this is gonna be good.
1 posted on 05/20/2006 4:57:37 PM PDT by Hugin
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To: Hugin

Civil War......


2 posted on 05/20/2006 4:58:43 PM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. Slay Pinch)
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To: Hugin

nice to watch them shooting in the right direction


3 posted on 05/20/2006 5:07:35 PM PDT by kinoxi
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To: Hugin
Abu Rajab underwent surgery at nearby Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where doctors stopped his bleeding and stabilized him before transferring him to the Israeli hospital Ichilov in Tel Aviv.

Jew hatred is their policy...until they need advanced medical attention apparently.

4 posted on 05/20/2006 5:10:57 PM PDT by Voltage
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To: Hugin

Maybe they will both resort to giving the Israeli the intel they need to kill off the other faction. One can only hope.


5 posted on 05/20/2006 5:23:06 PM PDT by rbg81
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To: Hugin
If "humanitarian aid" were going to humanitarian purposes, they would probably be out of ammo by now.
Helpful employees of the Hamas government stand ready to assist the people in meeting their daily needs. New weapons, uniforms, and ski masks purchased through the UN's Humanitarian Aid Program lend to the air of professionalism of these public servants.


Hamas government spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri works diligently to assist in importation of cash to meet the needs of starving Palestinians for nice new Kaleshnikovs and much needed explosive belts. Sami was stopped at the border with Egypt with $ 817,000 in cash strapped around his waist.

Proudly sporting humanitarian automatic rifles and new SUVs purchased to deliver milk to hungry babies, members of the Palestinian Security Forces make their morning rounds bringing a UN message of hope for the less fortunate.

Your humanitarian dollars help fund the Palestinian version of "No child left behind". Here, UN monies for education are spent in a classroom for Palestinian students who want to learn vital skills for tomorrow's marketplace.
6 posted on 05/20/2006 5:40:31 PM PDT by Da Mav
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To: Hugin

"I am not going to pour fuel on the fire, but at the same time I warn that playing with fire will burn the hands of those who are doing it," he said. "

Burn, baby, burn!


7 posted on 05/20/2006 5:40:53 PM PDT by LA Conservative (Al Gore in 2008 - The gift that keeps on giving)
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To: Hugin

At least Israel knows exactly how to deal with terrorists.


8 posted on 05/20/2006 6:26:33 PM PDT by Mikey_1962 (If you build it, they won't come...)
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To: Voltage

Well, the hospital ought to have refused admission, either with some pretext like repairs, canceled insurance coverage, or no beds available, etc., or even without any pretext.


9 posted on 05/20/2006 6:37:55 PM PDT by GSlob
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To: Da Mav

That sums it up nicely...and your illustrations are brilliant!


10 posted on 05/20/2006 6:39:44 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (Read the bio THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD free! Click Fred Nerks for link to my Page.)
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To: Hugin

"There is a crisis. We have to look for a solution,"

Is there any doubt that the solution will be to unite and attack Israel?


11 posted on 05/20/2006 6:46:24 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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