JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority police and Hamas gunmen clashed in a West Bank city, leaving six dead.
Police forces loyal to P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party surrounded a house in the Palestinian city of Kalkilya where two Hamas gunmen were hiding. The gunmen, three P.A. policemen and a civilian were killed in the clash late Saturday night.
Fatah and Hamas have been feuding since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah in June 2007.
Fatah has denied that the attempted arrest of the Hamas gunmen was politically motivated, saying the men were involved in weapons dealing and money laundering.
A Hamas television channel said the men were planning a demonstration to show solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported.
