Hamas clashes with Palestinian gunmen in Gaza
The incident showed how the new Hamas-led government is turning to its private army to impose order as it battles the rival Fatah movement for control of Palestinian security forces.
The power struggle has grown increasingly contentious in recent days since Hamas announced plans to form a new security agency headed by a militant wanted by Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah promptly vetoed the appointment, leading to clashes and protests.
Representatives of the two sides agreed to work to end the tensions, but the pledge quickly degenerated into new violence.
Thousands of Fatah activists joined anti-Hamas protests in the West Bank, hours before the shoot-out at the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. The violence came a day after Health Minister Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, said he was cutting $2 million from the monthly health budget to help alleviate a government financial crisis by halting payments for patients to get treatment abroad.
The state of Gaza’s healthcare system is poor, and Palestinians routinely travel to Israel and other countries for treatment.
Yesterday, a group of men, some of them armed, burst into Mr Naim’s office and demanded that he authorise a trip for a relative who needed treatment abroad, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Radi said.
The minister’s bodyguards - Hamas militants - called for backup from their colleagues and the two groups engaged in a brief shoot-out that wounded three people.
After a 45-minute stand-off, masked Hamas militants, joined by Palestinian police, retook the building, arresting three of the gunmen. Mr Naim left surrounded by 10 Hamas militants.
The minister’s reliance on Hamas gunmen - not the Fatah-dominated security services - illustrated the deep distrust between the sides.
Mr Abbas, a political moderate who was elected in separate presidential elections last year, has been trying to use his powers to marginalise Hamas, which formed a cabinet after winning January elections.
Mr Abbas favours peace talks with Israel, while Hamas calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
