MIDDLE EAST: Death toll rises to 30 in five days of fierce factional fighting between rival Palestinian groups in Gaza / Rockets hit Israeli border towns

Record ID: 343533

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Death toll rises to 30 in five days of fierce factional fighting between rival Palestinian groups in Gaza / Rockets hit Israeli border towns
  • Date: 16th May 2007
  • Summary: PEOPLE IN BOMB SHELTERS CHILDREN DRAWING INSIDE BOMB SHELTER
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1Y80P6WWVX8P29IUWBMEQ5DXQ
  • Story Text: The death toll rises to 30 in five days of fierce factional fighting between rival Palestinian groups in Gaza. Hamas militants fire rockets into southern Israel, angering residents of rocket-battered border towns.

    Gunfire echoed across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (May 16) as the death toll rose to 30 since the start of a new round of internal fighting five days ago.
    Hamas gunmen stormed the home of Rashid Abu Shbak, President Mahmoud Abbas's top security chief in Gaza, and killed at least five people on Wednesday in a new surge of factional fighting that pushed Palestinians closer to all-out civil war.
    Palestinian officials said the widening hostilities in Gaza could scupper a two-month-old unity government formed by ruling Hamas Islamists and Abbas's secular Fatah faction.
    A Fatah official said at least five security men, including one member of Abbas's elite presidential guard, were killed in the attack on Abu Shbak's home. At least 15 people were wounded during the fighting. Abu Shbak was apparently not at home at the time.
    At least 16 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday.
    In an attempt to shift the focus of fighting towards Israel, Hamas militants in Gaza fired makeshift rockets into the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, where schools were closed for the day.
    No injuries were reported in Sderot on Wednesday. Four people were injured by rocket fire on Tuesday (May 15).
    On Wednesday, the Israeli government said it would choose when to retaliate.
    "Israel is not going to be dragged into the Gaza Strip the way that Hamas want," government spokeswoman Miri Eisen told Reuters. "We will choose the time, the place to respond and we will protect our citizens."
    On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Jordan's King Abdullah for talks in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
    At a conference in the historic Jordanian town of Petra earlier on Tuesday, Olmert said that he was ready to sit with Arab leaders to discuss an Arab peace initiative aimed at breaking the deadlock in peace talks.
    Eisen said the round of rockets was Hamas' response to Olmert's gesture.
    "Israel yesterday reached out in peace. While sitting in Jordan, the prime minister spoke openly about peace, about a two-state solution," she said.
    "The only response that we've gotten from the Hamas, from the Hamas -led government is this barrage of rockets. We will respond against the rockets, we will continue to try and seek out those moderates who are willing to talk peace with Israel".
    Residents of the rocket-battered town of Sderot spent the night in bomb shelters. On Wednesday, they expressed anger and frustration at the way the government was dealing with the rocket attacks.
    "What we see here this morning is a continuation of the state of Israel abandoning us - Israel is not responding in Gaza and is not assisting the residents. Go into the bomb shelters here, you will see families thrown in here since last night," said resident Alon David.
    Another resident, Gabi Banasi whose daughter was killed in a rocket attack two years ago, said: "This is shameful. "We are strong and the government is weak."
    Palestinians militants in Gaza frequently launch rocket attacks at southern Israel but rarely cause casualties.
    RZ/AD
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