Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters exchanged heavy fire in downtown Ramallah on Thursday after undercover Israeli forces tried to abduct Palestinian activists in the city's vegetable market. Four Palestinians were killed and 25 were injured.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday's raid violated a promise Israeli PM Ehud Olmert made in a summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last month to work toward improving relations between the two sides.
The fighting started when Israeli forces entered the open-air vegetable market in Ramallah to nab members from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a Palestinian security official told the AP.
When the Israeli troops became trapped, the army sent in more forces to extricate them, the Palestinian official said. Sounds of gunfire, loud booms and sirens could be heard across Ramallah for more than two hours, as fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians sent residents and shoppers scrambling for cover. Bulldozers and armored personnel carriers were seen driving through Ramallah's central square, clearing cars out of the way.
The Israeli army also fired smoke grenades, and at one point, an Israeli helicopter opened fire.
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, a member of a Hamas security force was killed Thursday when his car came under fire from unidentified assailants in the Jebaliaya refugee camp, a security official said. Hamas accused Fatah of the attack.
In nearby Beit Lahiya, Hamas gunmen surrounded the house of a Fatah-linked security commander and exchanged fire with guards, leaving a Fatah member dead and 14 other people injured, witnesses and security officials said.
Later, six other Palestinians were killed in clashes one of them was an officer, Col. Mohammed Ghayeb, who served as the chief of the Preventive Security Service in northern Gaza Strip.
Ghayeb was on the phone to Palestine TV just moments before his death and appealed for help as his house came under attack. "They are killers," he said of the Hamas gunmen. "They are targeting the house, children are dying, they are bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance, we want an ambulance, somebody move."
The battle outside the house raged for much of the day and killed two of Ghayeb's guards and a Hamas gunman. About three dozen people, including eight children, were also wounded..
Clashes also erupted Thursday during the funeral for three Fatah men killed in gunbattles with Hamas on Wednesday, wounding five people.
In response to the renewed fighting, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas cut short a tour of Arab nations and returned to Gaza on Thursday.
