WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Fatah-Hamas tensions surge after Gaza bombings
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-27 19:58 GAZA RAIDS Israeli troops killed a Hamas militant, Shihab al-Natsheh, in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday. The Islamist group's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigade, vowed a "swift and painful" revenge. Hebron residents said soldiers fired at a house where Natsheh, 25, and other gunmen were hiding after they refused to surrender and shot at troops. An army bulldozer razed the house. Locals said the Israelis believed Natsheh had been behind a suicide bombing that killed an Israeli woman in the southern city of Dimona in February. An army spokeswoman said only that soldiers clashed with gunmen in Hebron, killing one. In Gaza, Hamas officials said police had raided the offices of a news organisation, the Gaza Media Centre, which has contracts with Abu Dhabi TV and Fox News. They later said police had mistaken the owner of the centre for a Fatah supporter. Police seeking Fatah activists also clashed with gunmen of the Army of Islam, an al Qaeda-inspired group, who feared they were being targeted. Two Army of Islam gunmen were arrested. Hamas policemen set up roadblocks across the Gaza Strip to check for guns, explosives and suspects, local residents said. |
