Fatah–Hamas conflict

Palestinian civil skirmishes
File:Palestinian militants Gaza.jpg Palestinian militants in Gaza City
Date December 15 2006– ongoing Location Gaza Strip, West Bank Result Ongoing
Belligerents
File:HamasLogo.jpg Hamas	File:Fateh-logo.jpg Fatah
Strength
6,000 (mostly in Gaza)	30,000 (mostly in the W. Bank)
Casualties and losses
21 killed	33 killed
16 civilians killed 255 wounded on both sides (at least)

The Palestinian civil skirmishes began after the ruling Hamas party accused Fatah of trying to kill the Palestinian National Authority foreign minister after shots were earlier fired at his convoy in Gaza City on December 15, 2006. Mahmoud al-Zahar was unharmed in the attack but one of his bodyguards was killed and his son wounded.

Background

See also: Palestinian legislative election, 2006

Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, and the European Union, won the 2006 Palestinian elections. As a result, Israel, the United States, the European Union and the Arab states imposed sanctions suspending all foreign aid, upon which Palestinians depend. Despite the sanctions, and incidences of successful border interdiction, Hamas leaders were able to smuggle enough money into the Palestinian territories to provide Palestinians with basic health and human services, as well as guns and rockets.

Mahmoud Abbas, a member of the Fatah party, remained as president. Tensions grew between the two Palestinian factions after they failed to reach a deal to share government power. On 15 December, Abbas called for early elections. Hamas has challenged the legality of holding an early election maintaining their right to hold the full term of their democratically elected offices. Hamas has characterized this an attempted Fatah coup by Abbas, using undemocratic means to overthrow the results of a democratically elected government.

February 2006 to December 2006 rise of tensions

• 17th March, The Fatah movement of the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, has refused to join a government formed by Hamas.
• 10th/11th May: Three people killed during two days of clashes, including an attack by Hamas on a funeral procession for a dead Fatah fighter.
• 17th May, there is a stand off between forces loyal to Hamas and rival Fatah, as Hamas tries to construct a controversial new security force.
• 24th May: One Hamas member killed and two others injured following an abduction by Fatah, in the climax of a month in which 9 people where killed in clashes between the two sides.
• June 7th, Hamas agrees to withdraw its militia from the streets.
• July 20th, a local ceasefire is breached by Hamas militants who attack the home of a Fatah police chief, the truce had been announced after clashes killed 2 people.
• 1st October, eight people are killed in renewed fighting between Hamas and Fatah, which included the governments' headquarters being stormed by protesters.
• 3rd October, in additional fighting one more civilian is killed and 15 others are injured. Another civilian dies of injuries from Sunday.
• 4th October, a local Hamas leader is shot dead by masked gunmen, widely believed to be from the rival Fatah faction .
• 11th October: Twelve people are killed and over 120 injured in fighting between Hamas and Fatah, which started after Hamas forces broke up a demonstration of policemen loyal to Fatah protesting about their lack of wages. The fighting then spread to other parts of Gaza.
• 20th October, shooting breaks out hours after a deal is struck by Hamas and Fatah to end the inter-faction fighting.
• 12th November, the Rimal neighborhood shootings: four Palestinians including three children of Palestinian Authority security officer are murdered.
• 11th December, unidentified gunmen in Gaza City killed three sons, ages 3 to 9, of Baha Balousha, an intelligence officer with Fatah. Also killed was one of Balousha's bodyguards.
• 13th December, a prominent Hamas militant is killed execution style by a death squad from Fatah.

2006

December 15

On December 15 2006, fighting broke out in the West Bank after Palestinian security forces fired on a Hamas rally in Ramallah. At least 20 people were wounded in the clashes which came shortly after Hamas accused Fatah of attempting to assassinate Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister.

December 16

Mahmoud Abbas, a member of the Fatah party, called for early elections on December 16 after failing to reach consensus with Hamas about the formation of a government.

At least 32 Hamas supporters in Ramallah were wounded by gunfire from Mahmoud Abbas's forces on Friday, hospital officials said.

December 17

A 19-year-old Palestinian woman was fatally shot in the chest during a gunbattle between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements, medical officials said. Earlier Sunday, gunmen stormed a training camp in the Gaza Strip used by Force 17, sparking gunbattles that left one officer dead and several others wounded. The assailants were widely believed to be members of the Hamas military wing, although Hamas publicly denied involvement. Among those wounded in the clashes was Didier Francois, a reporter for the French daily Liberation, who sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. Also a Fatah Palestinian Authority security officer abducted earlier in the day had been executed.

December 18

Gunmen from Hamas and Fatah faced off on December 18 morning in a gun battle in the middle of Gaza City, a battle that left a teenager wounded. About 10 masked Hamas gunmen, with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers, took shelter behind walls in downtown Gaza as they fought a dozen other gunmen from Fatah, witnesses said.

The fighting, which came despite a truce agreement between the two sides, wounded a 16-year-old boy with a bullet in the neck.

On the same day, Hamas gunmen kidnapped Sufian Abu Zaydeh, a former Fatah cabinet minister in the northern Gaza Strip. At the same time Fatah kidnapped 11 Hamas activists. Zaydeh was later freed 'as gesture of goodwill'.

December 19

Hamas and Fatah forces engaged in a heavy gun battle early on outside the headquarters of the pro-Fatah intelligence service in Gaza, killing at least three people and wounding a dozen others. Among the killed were two Fatah and one Hamas member of the security forces. Also, the lifeless bodies of a Fatah security official who was kidnapped earlier on that day by Hamas gunmen were found in Gaza city. The man belonged to the Palestinian Intelligence Forces.

December 20

Hamas and Fatah have reached a new truce Tuesday night. Eyewitnesses said gunmen were retreating from the streets. However, Wednesday morning 2 Fatah members were killed during a gunfight with Hamas-members. In a separate incident in Jabalya, 7 Palestinians were wounded by Hamas members.

December 21

A civilian is killed due to gunfire between Hamas loyalists and Fatah loyalists. Eyewitnesses said the Fatah loyalists were family of the yesterday-killed Fatah members. In a separate incident, the bodyguard of the Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, from Hamas, has been abducted.

December 22

9 Palestinians are wounded, 1 of them seriously in a gunclash between Hamas and Fatah. The clash began when Fatah members fired at a pro-Hamas crowd, in Nablus.

2007

January 1 flare-up

Palestinian security sources reported that activists from Hamas' military wing and the special security force have abducted three Fatah activists. Amongst the abducted are the brothers of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades' Commander on the northern Gaza Strip. The reports said that al-Aqsa men retaliated by kidnapping 10 Hamas activists. Gun battles also erupted between the two parties, and two people, one from each faction, were wounded in the incident.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources from the northern Gaza Strip reported that Hamas gunmen fired two 'Yasin' mortar shells at the home of a senior al- Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades official in Beit Lahiya, Munzer Abur Nasr. Eye witnesses reported that the third floor of the building partially collapsed as a result of the shells.

Earlier Palestinians reported that Fatah and Hamas are greatly increasing their presence in the streets, especially in the north of the Gaza Strip. The report said that the parties were setting up roadblocks at a distance of dozens of meters from one another, and there is great fear that a war might erupt. [4]

January 3

Five Palestinians were killed in exchanges of fire between Hamas and Fatah throughout northern Gaza. Of those killed four are loyal to Fatah and one is a female bystander who was caught in the crossfire near Jabaliya. Three of the Fatah members are killed in Khan Younis, as their vehicles are attacked by Hamas forces. The female was killed in a gunclash between Hamas and Fatah in Jabalya. A dozen gunman were wounded in this clash. The fourth was gunned down in Beit Lahiya. 10 people, from both sides, are kidnapped.[5]

January 4

9 Palestinians are killed in the inter-Palestinian conflict this day. A Hamas gunman was killed by gunfire, 3 other Hamas gunman were wounded in the clash. Later that day, a civilian was killed by crossfire. In the evening, an anti-tank missile was fired at the house of a officer from security forces loyal to Fatah. The officer was killed, his wife critically injured. 6 of his subordinates were also killed by the blast. The officer rung moments before he died with Palestine TV, telling that his house was under siege and that children were dying in the streets. The siege caused many outrage. 6 civilians were injured, because unidentified man shot at them during the funeral of a Fatahmember, who was killed yesterday. All deadly cases occurred in Northern Gaza.

January 5

A Fatah member of the security forces died of his wounds he received the previous day during clashes and an anti-Hamas cleric was gunned down near a mosque.

January 6

3 members of a family, affiliated with Hamas, are killed by members of a Fatah-affiliated family, in Gaza. In the West Bank, there are several happenings between Hamas and Fatah. The mayor of Nablus was abducted, but later released. In Ramallah, the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry was stormed. One Palestinian was injured and abducted. Later he was released. Heavy gunclashes were reported in Jenin. At least five Palestinians, all supporters of Hamas, were kidnapped.

January 25

Al Aqsa men fired toward a rally in Nablus marking the anniversary of Hamas's election victory, two dozen masked Hamas gunmen returned fire, and a civilian was killed by a stray bullet in his home. A Fatah police officer is shot dead in Gaza city and one Hamas operative was killed just before midnight.

January 26

Seven Hamas militants, five Fatah militants, one al-Aqsa Martyr's brigades militant (Fatah) and three civilians, including a 16 and a 2-year-old, were killed in heavy clashes. 24 Hamas militants are captured by Fatah in the West Bank.

January 27

Mortar shells, gun clashes and car bombs left 6 people dead this day, including 2 Hamas militants, 2 Fatah militants and two civilians, including a 12 year old boy. An additional Hamas security official, injured the day before during fighting in Beit Lahiya, died of his wounds in the afternoon, so that the death count of today is 7. There were dozens of wounded people.

January 28

In another day of fighting one Hamas militant, one Fatah militant and one 45-year-old civilian was killed.

January 29

A Hamas security force member was killed in Gaza City early in the morning. A senior Hamas official, Hussein al-Shabasi, was shot dead outside a mosque in Khan Younis and three civilians were killed in the ensuing fighting after the shooting.

February 1

A group of Hamas gunmen ambushed a four-truck convoy they said was transporting weapons to Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard. Three presidential guard officers (linked to Fatah), a member of an intelligence unit loyal to Abbas, a Hamas gunman and one civilian were killed in the heavy fighting that ensued. Up to 70 people, including two children, were wounded in the gunbattle. A Fatah spokesman denied that the convoy was carrying weapons and described the incident as "a grave danger to the continuation of the (ceasefire) agreement". Earlier in the day, unknown gunmen opened fire at several Hamas officials in Gaza, causing no casualties. Elsewhere in Gaza, ten people were wounded when Hamas gunmen attacked a military intelligence position.

External links

• "Palestinian factions 'agree deal'"
• "Abbas insists will hold elections, truce unraveling"
• Frustration over Ramallah violence
• Palestinian rivals: Fatah & Hamas
• No agreement in Palestinian talks