17 Dead In Palestinian Factional Fighting

Feud Between Fatah And Hamas Escalates In Gaza; Hospitals And Cabinet Meeting Caught In Crossfire

(CBS/AP)  In the West Bank city of Nablus, Fatah gunmen kidnapped a Hamas activist and torched the car of a local Hamas politician, Hamas officials said.

Monday's deaths brought to more than 80 the number of Palestinians killed since the latest round of infighting erupted in May. The violence overshadowed attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian contacts.

Appeals for calm by the leaders of the two rival camps, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, went unheeded. Repeated attempts to secure a cease-fire have failed.

Haniyeh himself was apparently the target of an attack early on Monday when militants, apparently from the rival Fatah, fired at his home. No one was reported hurt in the incident.

Last week, Abbas called off a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; aides said he did not want to hold talks unless he could be assured of concrete results.

Monday's fighting marred the first day of matriculation exams for thousands of high school students in Gaza. Gunfire could be heard throughout Gaza City during the day.

"This is shameful for our people," Abbas, a moderate who has repeatedly condemned the violence, said during a visit to a West Bank school. "I call on everyone to stop this immediately, not only because of the examinations, but also for our people to live a normal life."

About 90 minutes into the weekly Cabinet meeting, shots hit the Gaza City building where the ministers had gathered.

Mohammed Madhoun, an aide to Haniyeh, said the building was apparently caught in the crossfire between rival Fatah and Hamas forces perched on nearby rooftops.

"The ministers are gone and the shooting is indiscriminate," he said shortly after the incident.

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.

Hamas brought Fatah into its government in March in an effort to quell the internal strife, but the fighting reignited in mid-May over an unresolved dispute over who controls the powerful security forces.

The fighting took a grisly turn on Sunday, when Hamas militants kidnapped a member of Abbas' elite presidential guard, took him to the roof of a 15-story apartment building and threw him to his death.

That set off skirmishes throughout the city, including gun battles and shelling. Fatah militants surrounded the house of a Hamas mosque preacher, Mohammed al-Rifati, and killed him.

"They came up the stairs and broke open the door," said the preacher's 14-year-old son, Hamzeh. "He opened the door. He said, 'What do you want?' ... They held him and they shot him in the leg. He began screaming and blood was on the floor ... They put him on a mattress and took him."

And just before midnight, a Hamas activist was thrown off the 12th floor of a building and killed, security officials said, in an apparent retaliation for the earlier killing of the Fatah man.

The deadly infighting has overlapped with new clashes between Israel and Palestinian militants who have been firing rockets at southern Israeli communities bordering Gaza.

Early Monday, Palestinian militants fired five rockets into southern Israel, the army said. There were no injuries, but high school students in the battered border town of Sderot were moved to towns out of rocket range to take their final exams.

[antoniof123]

lars008 I can always tell it is you because you spew forth so much hate right from the very begining. Please if you have nothing to really add except for your hate then don't add it because it is so out of hand isn't there enough hate in this world without adding to it.

[bluestardad]

BUSH IS SENDING MONEY TO BOTH SIDES ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN AND THE PALESTINIANS ARE FIGHTING FOR THEIR SHARE OF THE BUSH MONEY!

THIS ENTIRE MESS IS NOT IN AMERICAS NATIONAL INTEREST AND IS NOT NEWS WORTHY!

LET ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST PLAY ITS OWN GAME WITHOUT AMERICAN MONEY OR TREASURE!


AMERICA IS NOT THE UNITED STATES OF ISRAEL!

[lars008-2009]

FASCIST NAZI ISLAM TO ENSLAVE NON MUSLIM WORLD

HAMAS MICKEY MOUSE SAYS

Islamic rule will benefit Christians and Jews
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - May 14, 2007
The force behind Hamas TV%u2019s controversial Mickey Mouse clone said today that his children%u2019s television program will continue to promote worldwide Islamic supremacy, for everyone's benefit, including Christians and Jews.
In a long interview on Hamas TV, Hazim Al-Sha%u2019arawi, Deputy Director of Al-Aqsa TV and one of the creators of the Hamas children%u2019s TV show Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers, said that using the program to promote Islamic rule over other religions is actually promoting %u201Cjustice, goodness and world love.%u201D
Al-Aqsa TV and the Palestinian Authority have been under fire since PMW reported last week that Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers was using a character named Farfur, a knockoff of Disney%u2019s Mickey Mouse character, to convey messages about Islamic supremacy as well as hatred of Jews, Israel and the U.S. Despite public statements by PA Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti that the show would be taken off the air until it could be reviewed and revised, a new episode of the program %u2013 featuring Al-Sha%u2019arawi as one of the hosts %u2013 ran Friday.
http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg