The military wing of Hamas warned of civil war if the Palestinian Authority continues its crackdown on the Islamic group. Saying that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat had “reached the point of treason,” the Izz a-Din al- Kassam brigade warned in a statement that the “beginning of infighting has appeared, and no one can put out its fire.” Hamas’ first direct threat to Arafat’s government came after Palestinian security officials placed Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin under house arrest and arrested more than 100 Hamas activists in the wake of last week’s suicide bombing of a jeep escorting a busload of Israeli schoolchildren in the Gaza Strip.
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