Palestinian police to stand firm against vigilantes

Palestinian police will stand firm against vigilantes, their spokesman said today, a day after gun battles between security forces and Hamas left three people dead and 50 wounded.

It was the most violent internal clash in Gaza in nearly a decade. Israel said it was encouraged by what it believed was a first sign of a crackdown on armed groups by the Palestinian Authority.

Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, the Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman, said the government “is determined to implement law and order ... and will not allow anyone to be above the law.”