Fatah leader in Nablus shot dead

A leader of the ruling Fatah Party in Nablus was shot dead today in violence related to upcoming elections for the Palestinian parliament.

Despite the chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent months, violence related to tomorrow’s balloting has been relatively limited.

Early this month, a Hamas supporter was killed in a firefight that erupted while rival factions were hanging election posters in Gaza City. Hamas blamed the ruling Fatah Party for the shooting.

Nine gunmen, also affiliated with Fatah, pulled up in two cars to the house of 44-year-old Abu Ahmed Hassouna in the early hours of today and began firing at posters of election candidates on his house, relatives said.

Hassouna leaned out a window, shouted at them to stop, and they shot him in the head, they said. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died shortly after.

The gunmen fled, some by car and some on foot, after one of their cars broke down, relatives said.

Police wouldn’t comment on the incident, which is under investigation. Islamic tradition requires immediate burial of the dead, but relatives said they would not bury Hassouna until his killers were caught.

About 1,500 people, including Fatah candidates, activists and party-affiliated gunmen, were milling around his house this morning.