Roundup: Fatah-Hamas conflict expands to W. Bank amid media campaign

An ongoing conflict between the two rival Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, expanded to and escalated in several West Bank areas on Monday while the two sides were trading accusations through local mass media.

Palestinian security sources said that unknown gunmen opened fire at the car and office of former Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad in West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday morning, but the official was not hurt.

The drive-by shooting happened amid violence in West Bank where Fatah militants have burnt several foundations affiliated with the governing Hamas movement last night in response to the factional fighting in Gaza.

Residents of Ramallah awoke in the morning to discover that several shops had been incinerated and ridden with a barrage of bullets.

Twenty-two shops and centers were targeted and among the most prominent of these places was the Daraghmah shopping center which was severely destroyed.

The director of the Daraghmah center refused to accuse any party of the assault as he is not in conflict with any political movement. He portrayed his losses as very high and appealed to rival groups to stop inciting violence.

The Mayor of Ramallah Sa'id Abu Ali said that President Mahmoud Abbas has given orders to security forces to maintain order and protect Palestinian citizens, adding that security services have put in place a plan to maintain internal security.

In addition, unidentified gunmen opened fire at the house of acting Mayor of Ramallah, Omar Hamayil. A school bus was also targeted during the night while it was parked.

In the Gaza Strip, however, leaders and spokesmen from the two movements traded accusations through local mass media with each saying that the other party's practices are behind the current violent escalation.

Hamas movement's spokesman in the Gaza Strip Fawzi Barhoum slammed Fatah, saying, "There is a group of people who are eager to see Hamas movement and the government it leads collapsing."

Barhoum equaled the Israeli military actions and restrictions imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with the attacks targeting Hamas figures which were carried out by Palestinian gunmen loyal to Fatah.

"Both the Israeli occupation's measures and the attacks on the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament are aiming at breaking down the movement and the government which earned the largest support among the people," said Barhoum.

But President Abbas' media advisor Nabil Amer defended Fatah movement, saying that "Fatah is united, and Hamas tries to split it by saying that there is a minor group in Fatah, who wants to break down Hamas."

Last week, the Gaza Strip witnessed intensive armed clashes between militants belong to both movements, where more than 10 Palestinians were killed and over 50 others wounded. Most of them are Fatah loyalists.

Hamas movement earns a large popular support in the Gaza Strip, but in the West Bank Fatah movement is considered as bigger and gains a large popular support there, according to observers.

Source: Xinhua