A bomb went off near a vehicle carrying members of a Hamas security force in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, injuring at least three people who Hamas said were members of its Executive Force. The Israeli army said it was not involved in the incident, the AP reopred.
On Wednesday, Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip took control of a four-story office building of the rival Fatah group, a Fatah spokesman said. Hazem Abu Shanab, Fatah spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that Hamas forces Wednesday had stormed the building where the movement's headquarters are "and forced the employees under the threats of guns to evacuate the place."
According to him, the employees, who are Fatah members, were forced to leave the building without taking any of their belongings, saying, "Hamas is dealing with Fatah as an outlawed organization."
Ihab al-Ghusein, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, denied that his security services had taken control of Fatah office, saying "it is just a measure taken for security reasons."
The office is located near a Hamas security compound that the movement said was the target of a failed Fatah raid on Tuesday. Three Fatah members were killed in that incident. Hamas said the assailants died when explosives they were handling exploded prematurely. Fatah activists said Hamas had attacked the group with rocket propelled grenades.
Three Hamas militants were killed Tuesday night and another three wounded in an explosion outside a Hamas command post at the Gaza port. Hamas blamed "some Fatah criminal elements" for being behind this attack. "We will not tolerate any attempt to drag the Palestinian people back to the quagmire of internal fighting, and we will not condone any attempt to target any of the Palestinian resistance fighters and political leaders", Hamas conveyed.
