Hamas gunmen open fire on Fatah protest

Holding up a poster showing images of three siblings killed Monday in Gaza City, Palestinian school children rally on the streets of the West bank city of Jenin yesterday.. PHOTO: AFP

The demonstration was organised to protest the deaths of the children, whose car was riddled with bullets as they were driven to school Monday morning. Fatah officials have accused Hamas of being behind the shooting. The children's father is an intelligence officer who is considered an enemy of Hamas.

Saleh Hammad, a local Fatah leader, said the demonstration was peaceful, though he acknowledged that some children had provoked the Hamas militiamen by throwing rocks at them.

"Even if one or a few children lost their temper and stoned the members of the unit, this is not a reason to be fired at," he said.

Hospital officials confirmed that four people were wounded, one moderately and the others lightly. The demonstration quickly dispersed, and there were no further signs of fighting.

Meanwhile Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas traded gunfire with Hamas policemen in Gaza yesterday as tensions soared after the killing of three young sons of one of Abbas's top intelligence officials.

Hospital officials said two members of Abbas's security forces had been wounded, one seriously. A spokesman for the governing Hamas Islamist movement's police force said two of their men had been wounded. One was in critical condition.