23 wounded in Gaza clashes, Hamas, Fatah exchange accusations
The number of Palestinians injured in renewed confrontations on Tuesday between Hamas, on the one hand, and Fatah and the Palestinian security forces in the other, increased to 23 in Jabalia camp for the Palestinian refugees in north Gaza.
The new clashes erupted between members of the two movements on Tuesday evening in Beit Lahia in north Gaza resulted in injuring ten persons.
Tuesday morning, 13 Palestinians were injured in armed clashes between the security forces and al-Aqsa Martyrs group, the military wing of the Fatah movement, on one hand, and members of al-Qassam groups, the military wing of Hamas, on the other hand in Jabalia camp. The two sides exchanged in statements accusing the other side of being behind the incidents.
Security sources and eye witnesses said that most of the wounded in Tuesday morning's clashes are members of the Palestinian security department and al-Aqsa martyrs groups, and that members of al-Qassam group were injured in these clashes during which three civilians were also injured.
During the confrontations, members of the Hamas movement burnt three cars for activists of Fatah movement and opened fire on a security forces officer and one official of al-Aqsa martyrs group in Jabalia. Earlier at dawn, Tuesday, unidentified persons burnt a center for studies and research close to Hamas.
In another field development, al-Qassam groups announced it fired mortars shelling and Qassam missiles at two Israeli settlements. News reports said that mortars shelling fell at four settlements in the south of Gaza.
These developments came at a time when the Palestinian legislative council started holding its meeting in Gaza to discuss the tension between the Palestinian authority and Hamas, and to discuss amending the constituent of the Palestinian authority to also include creating a post of a Palestinian Vice President.
Meantime, the higher committee for the Palestinian groups held a meeting on Tuesday evening to continue dialogue to contain the recent tension which overwhelming relations between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.