Palestinians Fight Among Themselves
A top commander of a small militant Palestinian group was killed on Friday when his car mysteriously exploded in flames, and a shootout between rival Palestinian factions erupted shortly after the blast.
The Popular Resistance Committees, whose commander was killed, accused Palestinian security forces of being behind the assassination, raising the possibility of further infighting. Hundreds of gunmen marched through the streets of Gaza City to protest the killing.
Several people were killed and others wounded at the funeral for Abu Yousef Abu Quka, a senior PRC commander. "We have a big mess here," said a hospital worker.
Israel Radio said Abu Quka was responsible for many rocket attacks against Israel, but the Israeli army denied involvement, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.
Hamas' new foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, blamed Israel for Abu Quka's death and said it "justifies the process of self-defense to stop the Israeli aggression by all means."
In other developments:
The Palestinian unrest illustrates the widening spiral of violence facing the new Hamas government, which has pledged to restore order in the lawless Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Friday's explosion killed Abu Quka, reducing his white Subaru to a twisted hunk of metal. The group initially blamed Israel, but later accused Palestinian security forces.
PRC spokesman Abu Abir said the Preventive Security Service had been trying to kill Abu Quka for some time, and that that loyalists of Mohammed Dahlan and Samir Masharawi, two Gaza strongmen, were seen spying on Abu Quka's home on Thursday.
He said Abu Quka was a former member of preventive security, and the agency was upset about his defection.
"This is not the first time they tried to kill him," he said. "There is a long history of conflict between us. The Preventive Security always tries to demean our members."
Hamas' new interior minister, Said Siyam, who is now in charge of preventive security, promised to bring the killers to justice.
"We regret the exchange of accusations and the mentioning of names," Siyam said. "This doesn't serve the internal unity of the Palestinian people and we call on all brothers to take their time and not to rush behind these blind internal divisions."
Hamas, whose government was sworn into office on Wednesday, has pledged to restore law and order to the chaotic Gaza Strip and West Bank, where factional infighting is rampant.
Friday's violence illustrated how difficult the task will be. Palestinian security forces, most loyal to the rival Fatah movement, are often involved in the violence, and Hamas has little control over them.
When Abu Abir called a news conference to discuss the killing, rival gunmen burst on the scene, sparking a shootout. Witnesses said the gunmen were from Preventive Security, an official security agency dominated by the rival Fatah movement.
Abu Quka's death came hours after a suicide bomber affiliated with Fatah disguised himself as an Orthodox Jew and hitched a ride in a car driving to the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. The bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the settlement, also killing the four Israelis in the car.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from Fatah, denounced the suicide attack. "We as the Palestinian Authority do not accept it," he said. "We condemn it."
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said "it is our people's right to resist occupation."
"Not only are they doing nothing to counter terrorism, they are encouraging it," Gideon Meir, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said.
The suicide attack was the first by a Fatah affiliate since a February 2005 truce. Israeli security officials say they expect more suicide bombings from Fatah militants now that Hamas has taken power. Fatah, the long dominant Palestinian party, lost to Hamas in January parliamentary elections.
With Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert planning to pull out of much of the West Bank in the coming years, Fatah-linked militants might try to step up violence to gain credibility with the public and create the impression that Israel is retreating under fire.
Hamas has claimed that its years of attacks pushed Israel out of the Gaza Strip last year.
Alternatively, security officials said, Fatah militants might want to turn up the heat on Hamas, which is under heavy international pressure to renounce violence.
On Friday morning, the Israeli military clamped tough restrictions on passage between northern and southern West Bank. The restrictions will remain in place as long as security conditions warrant, the military said.
The intensified violence has overlapped with the victory of Olmert's Kadima Party in elections earlier this week, on a platform of drawing Israel's final borders.
Olmert says he is prepared to negotiate, but if necessary, would take unilateral action. With Hamas holding fast to its ways, prospects for talks look bleak.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted on Thursday that the U.S. might support unilateral Israeli action, even though it is the main backer of the "road map" peace plan.