Violence in Gaza As Hamas Breaks Up Fatah Demonstrations

Hamas forces arrested four senior leaders from the rival Fatah movement in Gaza yesterday after violent confrontations with Fatah supporters who tried to hold prayers outside a mosque.

Thousands of men from the Hamas Executive Force carrying weapons and wooden batons deployed across Gaza yesterday in an effort to head off Fatah demonstrations. At least 20 people were injured, some with gunshot wounds, in a a renewal of factional violence.

Hamas, which won elections last year, seized full security control in Gaza in June after months of near civil war with Fatah but in recent weeks Fatah has tried to rebuild its support. Yesterday marked the most serious confrontation for nearly three months.

After Fatah demonstrations at Friday prayers for the past two weeks, Hamas issued a ban on open-air prayers, saying they were being used for political purposes. Fatah leaders in the West Bank called for a large turnout in Gaza yesterday in defiance of the ban.

As prayers began yesterday, Hamas forces arrested several men outside the Qatiba mosque in Gaza City, a former Fatah mosque. Hamas gunmen beat several men in the crowd with wooden batons as they scuffled in the street. "We are here to take part in prayers with the Palestinian people. It's not just Fatah," said Rafiq Sirsawi, 46, a Fatah supporter who had come to the mosque to pray. "We are allowed to pray wherever we want."

As the crowd gathered to pray outside the mosque, an armed man from the Executive Force walked through the crowd with his baton raised shouting: "I don't want to see any of you here. I'll hit you all, I swear."

Several journalists were also beaten and at least three were briefly detained and had their television cameras confiscated.

As prayers ended, the Executive Force arrested four senior Fatah figures including Zakariah Agha, the most senior Fatah leader still in Gaza.

Taher Nounou, a Hamas spokesman, said the men were detained for violating the ban on open-air prayers and agitating against Hamas, including organizing strikes by doctors and nurses.

"They are leading a resumption of chaos and unrest," he said. "Today we were successful in inhibiting the demonstrators. We say to the Fatah leaders that we can allow any political activity but we cannot allow chaos. There is a difference between the two."

There have been a growing number of arrests or cases of harassment of Fatah-linked politicians and journalists.