Hamas officers killed in Gaza clashes
(Adds Hamas man kidnapped in Nablus, paragraph 7)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Two Hamas security officers were killed in fighting between Palestinians from the Islamist group and a pro-Fatah clan in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas and hospital officials said.
Hospital officials said five Hamas officers and 30 other people, including members of the Helles clan affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, were wounded in the clashes.
Islam Shahwan, a Hamas security spokesman, said one officer was killed by an explosive charge and the other was killed by a rocket propelled grenade during fighting in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.
Shahwan said Hamas was conducting a campaign to arrest members of the clan who it believes were behind a series of bombings in the territory last week, including one that killed five Hamas members and a girl.
"The Helles family has become a ... military force and members of the family have been attacking, abducting and even killing people. We must put an end to their attacks on innocent citizens," said Ehab al-Ghsain, a spokesman for Hamas's Interior Ministry.
"All attempts to convince them to hand suspects over have failed," he said, adding that dozens had been arrested during the fighting.
The Helles clan has denied involvement in the bombings.
Ahmed Helles, a senior member of the clan and a top Fatah official in Gaza, vowed to press on fighting.
ARRESTS, KIDNAPPING
Last week's blasts touched off tit-for-tat crackdowns by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. Hundreds of Palestinians have since been arrested.
On Thursday, Abbas ordered his Fatah-dominated security services to release all pro-Hamas activists in the West Bank. Twenty were released late on Friday but dozens more remained in custody, a senior security source said.
And one of those released was kidnapped by Fatah militants on Saturday in the West Bank city of Nablus. Fatah militants said they would free Hamas official Mohammed Ghazal only if Hamas halted its offensive on the Helles clan.
Ghazal confirmed reports of his kidnapping in a phone conversation with Reuters from captivity.
Hamas has said it has released more than half of the hundreds of Fatah activists who are in their custody.
Hamas's Al-Aqsa television said on Saturday the group decided to release 10 Fatah members, including Ibrahim Abu an-Naja, a top Fatah representative in Gaza arrested on Friday.
Hamas said it closed down a radio station run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group allied with Fatah.
An official said the station's broadcasts were inciting acts "against Hamas's security forces and government in the Gaza Strip." The PFLP confirmed the station has stopped broadcasting. (Additional reporting by Hassan Titi and Atef Saad in Nablus) (Writing by Avida Landau in Jerusalem; Editing by Mary Gabriel)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Two Hamas security officers were killed in fighting between Palestinians from the Islamist group and a pro-Fatah clan in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas and hospital officials said.
Hospital officials said five Hamas officers and 30 other people, including members of the Helles clan affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, were wounded in the clashes.
Islam Shahwan, a Hamas security spokesman, said one officer was killed by an explosive charge and the other was killed by a rocket propelled grenade during fighting in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.
Shahwan said Hamas was conducting a campaign to arrest members of the clan who it believes were behind a series of bombings in the territory last week, including one that killed five Hamas members and a girl.
"The Helles family has become a ... military force and members of the family have been attacking, abducting and even killing people. We must put an end to their attacks on innocent citizens," said Ehab al-Ghsain, a spokesman for Hamas's Interior Ministry.
"All attempts to convince them to hand suspects over have failed," he said, adding that dozens had been arrested during the fighting.
The Helles clan has denied involvement in the bombings.
Ahmed Helles, a senior member of the clan and a top Fatah official in Gaza, vowed to press on fighting.
ARRESTS, KIDNAPPING
Last week's blasts touched off tit-for-tat crackdowns by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. Hundreds of Palestinians have since been arrested.
On Thursday, Abbas ordered his Fatah-dominated security services to release all pro-Hamas activists in the West Bank. Twenty were released late on Friday but dozens more remained in custody, a senior security source said.
And one of those released was kidnapped by Fatah militants on Saturday in the West Bank city of Nablus. Fatah militants said they would free Hamas official Mohammed Ghazal only if Hamas halted its offensive on the Helles clan.
Ghazal confirmed reports of his kidnapping in a phone conversation with Reuters from captivity.
Hamas has said it has released more than half of the hundreds of Fatah activists who are in their custody.
Hamas's Al-Aqsa television said on Saturday the group decided to release 10 Fatah members, including Ibrahim Abu an-Naja, a top Fatah representative in Gaza arrested on Friday.
Hamas said it closed down a radio station run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group allied with Fatah.
An official said the station's broadcasts were inciting acts "against Hamas's security forces and government in the Gaza Strip." The PFLP confirmed the station has stopped broadcasting. (Additional reporting by Hassan Titi and Atef Saad in Nablus) (Writing by Avida Landau in Jerusalem; Editing by Mary Gabriel)
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