Shootout in West Bank kills 6, deadliest in 2 yrs

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-31 14:59

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas talks during a news conference following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, May 30, 2009. [Agencies]

QALQILIYA, West Bank -- A gunbattle between Palestinian police and Hamas militants killed six people Sunday, security officials said, in the deadliest outbreak of violence since President Mahmoud Abbas began a crackdown against Hamas two years ago.

Three of the dead were Palestinian policemen loyal to the Western-backed Abbas, the security officials said. The policemen were trying to arrest Hamas fighters who were hiding in a house in the city of Qalqiliya when shooting began, they said.

Two of the dead were fighters from Hamas, they said, and the other victim was the civilian owner of the house where the clash took place.

Bloodshed between President Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas was common in the Gaza Strip until Hamas violently took control of the coastal territory two years ago and expelled its rivals. But Sunday's clash was the worst internal violence in recent years in the West Bank, where Israel retains overall security control but allows Abbas' internationally backed government some authority in a number of cities and rural areas.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media. Hospital officials in Qalqiliya confirmed the information.

The split between Hamas and Fatah has complicated peace efforts with Israel, and both groups have cracked down on their rivals. The division has also hampered the delivery of aid to Gaza after Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in the territory earlier this year.

Much of the international community shuns Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and Israel and Egypt have kept Gaza's borders largely sealed since the radical group seized control there in June 2007.

The US has been helping Abbas improve the quality of Palestinian security forces, seeing that as a key requirement for the creation of a Palestinian state.