World

More Palestinian-On-Palestinian Violence

December 13, 2006 / 9:29 AM EST / CBS/AP

Palestinian gunmen dragged a judge from the ruling Hamas group out of a taxi in Gaza, forced him to his knees, and shot him to death in front of his courthouse Wednesday.

It was the latest in tit-for-tat attacks that has raised fears of a Palestinian civil war, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

The ambush came two days after the killing of the three young children of a Fatah-allied Palestinian intelligence officer, sparking renewed conflict between the rival Hamas and Fatah movements. The violence has reduced chances for a coalition government of the two sides and pushed them closer to civil war.

In other developments:

In Sudan, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas official, said he would return to Gaza on Thursday, cutting short a trip to Arab and Muslim countries including Iran and Syria. "We need the prime minister to be here now to resolve the internal problems," said Haniyeh's political adviser, Ahmed Youssef.

Israel's Supreme Court has approved construction of a controversial portion of the security barrier in north Jerusalem, rejecting an appeal by Arab residents of the area, reports

. The case was held up in the courts for more than two years. The decision means that 55,000 Arab residents of Jerusalem, with Israel ID cards, will be on the other side of the fence. The nine-justice panel said the most important consideration is protecting Israelis from Palestinian suicide bombers.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert asked Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday

(GETTY)

to urge Christians to protest Holocaust denials. Olmert also invited Benedict to visit Israel, and the pontiff replied that he planned to go "when things calm down," according to Israeli government spokespeople. He then met with Italian Premier Romano Prodi (shown at left welcoming Olmert), who advocated a prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestinians as a confidence-building measure, and for direct talks between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Tuesday that tensions in the Middle East were "near the breaking point" and said the Israelis and Palestinians were equally responsible for fueling the conflict. Annan's criticism of Israel focused on its five-month-long military operation in the Gaza Strip. He said, however, the Palestinians will not achieve their goal of forming a sovereign state without renouncing violent acts. "No resistance to occupation can justify terrorism," he said.

World renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, has shown Israelis a good sense of humor during his tour there, reports

. Speaking though a speech synthesizer, he said studying the mysteries of the universe can be satisfying. "I won't compare it to sex but it lasts longer," he said. Hawking said the downside of his disability is that he cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognized, even if he wears dark sunglasses and a wig.

Palestinian security officials said the man killed was Bassam al-Fara, 30, a judge at the Islamic court and a Hamas member who belongs to the largest clan in the southern town of Khan Younis.

In a statement faxed to reporters, Hamas openly accused a Fatah "death squad" for al-Fara's killing.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said the dead man had been a field commander in Hamas' military wing and a prominent figure in the militant Islamic group. He gave no further details about al-Fara's militant activities but pledged to hunt down the killers. "Hamas is not going to forget the blood of its members," Barhoum said.

Fatah spokesman Tawfik Abu Khoussa rejected the accusations. "We condemn all acts of anarchy, whatever may be behind them. We call on the brothers in Hamas to stop firing accusations before the investigation," he said.

Haniyeh, in Sudan, dismissed fears of the violence in Gaza escalating to a civil war.

"We want to assure you that words such as 'civil war' don't exist in our dictionary. They don't exist in our makeup, in our culture," Haniyeh told reporters in Khartoum. "We will protect the national unity of the Palestinian people and we will thwart any attempt to instigate an inter-Palestinian struggle."

Witnesses to Wednesday's shooting said the four gunmen calmly waited for al-Fara outside the courthouse, eating breakfast at a food stand. When al-Fara emerged from a taxi, three of the men grabbed him and forced him onto his knees, while the fourth pulled out a weapon and shot him. The attack left the sidewalk riddled with bullet holes. The witnesses declined to be identified, fearing for their safety.

Dozens of people gathered at the scene and Palestinian security set up roadblocks. Hamas militants also set up their own roadblocks throughout town, searching for the shooters.

About 1,000 Fatah loyalists, about half of them uniformed security personnel, marched through Gaza from their headquarters to the residence of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

"We tell Abu Mazen the time has come to exercise your powers and stop this farce," said Othman Shalouf, an officer in the National Security Service. "We are security agencies able to control things and we need a political decision from you." Abbas is also known as Abu Mazen.

Some of the protesters fired in the air, but there were no clashes with Hamas militiamen they passed on their route. One demonstrator shouted appeals for Palestinian unity over a loudspeaker.

Students of the al-Azhar Islamic university joined the procession, carrying pictures of the three boys killed Monday, as well as Fatah security men killed in internal clashes.

Fatah and the Islamic militant Hamas have been locked in a power struggle since Hamas ousted Fatah in parliamentary elections. More than 40 Gazans have died in battles between the two groups since Hamas took power in March.

Seeking to end the standoff, Abbas has been trying to persuade Hamas to join Fatah in a national unity government. But the talks broke down late last month. Tensions heightened after Abbas announced plans over the weekend to call early elections, drawing Hamas accusations that he is plotting a coup.

The latest round of violence was sparked by Monday's killing in Gaza City of the three young sons of Baha Balousheh, an intelligence officer and Fatah loyalist who helped lead a crackdown on Hamas a decade ago. Balousheh, who was not in the car, escaped two previous Hamas assassination attempts.

Hamas denied accusations by Fatah officials that it killed the children.