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Militant dies in Gaza blast
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Tension flares as Palestinians battle Palestinians
GAZA CITY - AFP and Reuters
A Palestinian militant leader died in an explosion in Gaza City on Friday, and his group accused Palestinian security agents of colluding with Israel in his murder which followed a West Bank suicide bombing in which four Israelis were killed.
The flare-up of violence came on the heels of Israel's watershed election this week and the installation of the first Palestinian government led by Hamas, branded a terrorist group by the United States and Israel.
An Israeli army spokesman insisted: "It has nothing to do with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)," but his comment did not exclude other arms of the security services.
The Popular Resistance Committees, a small militant group that has carried out a string of rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, named the dead man Abu Youssef al-Quqa, head of its armed wing.
It insisted he had been the victim of a bomb attack, pointing the finger at Israeli intelligence services.
"When the general commander of the Salaheddin Brigades, Abu Youssef al-Quqa, was walking to the mosque to pray, there was a car parked in the street," said the group's spokesman Abu Abir.
"As he reached it, it blew up.
"We wish to say that this cowardly operation will not go unanswered. Our reaction this time will be different," he said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians were killed and 20 wounded on Friday as clashes broke out between rival factions. Four of the wounded were in a serious condition, hospital sources added.
The clashes opposed supporters of the mainstream Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian leader Mahomud Abbas and militants of the Popular Resistance Committees, whose military leader was killed in an apparent bomb blast earlier.
The group's spokesman, Abu Abir, had accused Palestinian security chiefs, whom he did not identify, of colluding with Israel in the explosion that killed Abu Youssef al-Quqa.
Two children were wounded in an earlier exchange after Abu Abir made the accusation.
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Tension flares as Palestinians battle Palestinians
GAZA CITY - AFP and Reuters
A Palestinian militant leader died in an explosion in Gaza City on Friday, and his group accused Palestinian security agents of colluding with Israel in his murder which followed a West Bank suicide bombing in which four Israelis were killed.
The flare-up of violence came on the heels of Israel's watershed election this week and the installation of the first Palestinian government led by Hamas, branded a terrorist group by the United States and Israel.
An Israeli army spokesman insisted: "It has nothing to do with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)," but his comment did not exclude other arms of the security services.
The Popular Resistance Committees, a small militant group that has carried out a string of rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, named the dead man Abu Youssef al-Quqa, head of its armed wing.
It insisted he had been the victim of a bomb attack, pointing the finger at Israeli intelligence services.
"When the general commander of the Salaheddin Brigades, Abu Youssef al-Quqa, was walking to the mosque to pray, there was a car parked in the street," said the group's spokesman Abu Abir.
"As he reached it, it blew up.
"We wish to say that this cowardly operation will not go unanswered. Our reaction this time will be different," he said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians were killed and 20 wounded on Friday as clashes broke out between rival factions. Four of the wounded were in a serious condition, hospital sources added.
The clashes opposed supporters of the mainstream Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian leader Mahomud Abbas and militants of the Popular Resistance Committees, whose military leader was killed in an apparent bomb blast earlier.
The group's spokesman, Abu Abir, had accused Palestinian security chiefs, whom he did not identify, of colluding with Israel in the explosion that killed Abu Youssef al-Quqa.
Two children were wounded in an earlier exchange after Abu Abir made the accusation.
