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PA police death in clash with Hamas
A Palestinian police commander and a civilian have been killed in Gaza City in clashes between security forces and Hamas Islamic militants.
More than 40 other people were injured in the fighting which flared up when police tried to stop a car in Gaza City carrying Hamas activists.
Hamas said police tried to arrest the son of a former leader but police said they were trying to resolve a dispute.
Separately, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to hold new talks.
The BBC's Alan Johnston reports that the Gaza clashes were sporadic but, at times, intense exchanges of fire and occasionally the sound of grenade blasts echoed across the city.
Grenade attacks
Police and Hamas militants briefly exchanged gunfire in a clash on Nasser Street, which police say began when they were attacked by Hamas supporters as they tried to resolve a minor dispute.
Hamas said the police were trying to detain Mohammed al-Rantissi, son of Abdel Aziz Rantissi, the Hamas leader killed in an Israeli air strike last year.
Fighting spread to two other parts of Gaza City, with Hamas supporters attacking police stations there.
Reports say Hamas members used rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades.
The dead police commander is reported to have held the rank of major.
Police muscle
Our correspondent notes that the clashes come just days after the Palestinian Authority stepped up the security forces' presence on Gaza streets.
It has been trying to enforce a ban on the carrying of weapons in public in attempt to improve the very poor law and order situation.
Militant groups including Hamas have said they support the effort to counter any criminal activity but insist on keeping their weapons for confrontation with Israel. They say the authorities must not attempt to disarm them.
"Hamas bears full responsibility for the result of these acts and the serious violation of law and order and playing with the blood of our people," the Palestinian interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"We are determined to move ahead with our plans to implement law and order and we will not let anyone be above the law."
Talks ahead
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon earlier spoke to the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by telephone, officials from Mr Sharon's office said.
A meeting had been scheduled for Sunday but was postponed because of the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza strip.
Israeli security sources say the army has now suspended the offensive which included missile attacks on Gaza, the killing of a number of Palestinian militants and the arrest of about 400 wanted men in the West Bank.
Israel says it will resume the operation if there are more Palestinian attacks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4303078.stm
Hamas said police tried to arrest the son of a former leader but police said they were trying to resolve a dispute.
Separately, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to hold new talks.
The BBC's Alan Johnston reports that the Gaza clashes were sporadic but, at times, intense exchanges of fire and occasionally the sound of grenade blasts echoed across the city.
Grenade attacks
Police and Hamas militants briefly exchanged gunfire in a clash on Nasser Street, which police say began when they were attacked by Hamas supporters as they tried to resolve a minor dispute.
Hamas said the police were trying to detain Mohammed al-Rantissi, son of Abdel Aziz Rantissi, the Hamas leader killed in an Israeli air strike last year.
Fighting spread to two other parts of Gaza City, with Hamas supporters attacking police stations there.
Reports say Hamas members used rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades.
The dead police commander is reported to have held the rank of major.
Police muscle
Our correspondent notes that the clashes come just days after the Palestinian Authority stepped up the security forces' presence on Gaza streets.
It has been trying to enforce a ban on the carrying of weapons in public in attempt to improve the very poor law and order situation.
Militant groups including Hamas have said they support the effort to counter any criminal activity but insist on keeping their weapons for confrontation with Israel. They say the authorities must not attempt to disarm them.
"Hamas bears full responsibility for the result of these acts and the serious violation of law and order and playing with the blood of our people," the Palestinian interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"We are determined to move ahead with our plans to implement law and order and we will not let anyone be above the law."
Talks ahead
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon earlier spoke to the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by telephone, officials from Mr Sharon's office said.
A meeting had been scheduled for Sunday but was postponed because of the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza strip.
Israeli security sources say the army has now suspended the offensive which included missile attacks on Gaza, the killing of a number of Palestinian militants and the arrest of about 400 wanted men in the West Bank.
Israel says it will resume the operation if there are more Palestinian attacks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4303078.stm
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More than 40 people were also reported wounded in the fighting on Sunday evening, the first such incident since Israel withdrew from Gaza last month, witnesses say.
Both sides accused the other of sparking the confrontation, which appeared to be the worst between Palestinian factions since late July.
Aljazeera reported Palestinian security sources as saying the incident started when a police patrol came across two people fighting at an ATM machine. When the security forces intervened, one of the men called for Hamas assistance.
A Hamas spokesman in Lebanon, Usama Hamdan, gives a different account. He told Aljazeera that fighting broke out when the police came to arrest Muhammad Abd al-Aziz al-Rantissi, the son of the Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was assassinated by Israel in 2004.
According to Hamdan, the police beat al-Rantissi, people in the neighbourhood crowded to protect him, and the fighting ensued.
Police say they have arrested one Hamas member and that their forces have been put on high alert.
Further fighting
Fighting quickly spread to the nearby Shati refugee camp where Hamas members shot four rocket-propelled grenades at a Palestinian police station, killing the policeman, and another at police in Shaikh Radwan, a Hamas stronghold in Gaza City.
Aljazeera correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh reported that medics at al-Shifa hospital named the dead policeman as Major Ali Makkawi. Three further police officers were injured.
The latest fighting underscored the challenges facing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who wants to consolidate control in Gaza and came days after Palestinian police launched a campaign to prevent resistance fighters from carrying weapons on the streets.
Israel has said it will not resume peace talks with the Palestinians until they disarm groups such as Hamas, adding this is also mandated by a US-backed road map peace plan.
The decision by the PA and the various organizations to ban the carrying of weapons in public has widespread support in the Strip. "After all, the Israeli occupation of Gaza has ended, and there's no longer any need to walk through the street carrying arms," a Palestinian journalist said.
In addition, public anger against Hamas - in the wake of a rally at which activists of the organization carried arms and an explosion led to the death of 19 people, including children - prompted PA leader Mahmoud Abbas and his people to begin to implement the decision, and police patrols have been arresting arms-bearers in the Strip over the past few days.
Also upping the tension between Hamas and the PA over the past week has been Israel's large-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank that has resulted in the apprehension of some 400 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. The campaign has given rise to concern among the Palestinian public that Israel is trying to forcibly undermine Hamas so as to help Abbas and his Fatah organization to defeat it in the upcoming elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/631793.html