(Haaretz) - Hamas police and a powerful clan allied with the rival Fatah movement traded automatic fire Saturday, killing a young man and a teenage boy on the fourth day of some of the heaviest internal fighting since the Islamic militants seized Gaza in the summer.
Saturday's deaths brought to six the number of people killed since the standoff started over a police demand that the Hilles clan hand over a government-issue car.
Hamas said it was determined to impose order and was setting an example. However, members of the clan warned that Hamas is making new enemies by taking on large families in tribal Gaza.
Advertisement
The fighting turned the clan's Shijaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza City into a ghost town. Gray smoke could be seen rising from the district and gunfire was heard across town.
Hamas snipers took over rooftops, while clan members blocked roads with rocks and mounds of sand. Both sides also fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades. Electricity was cut in parts of the neighborhood and phone lines were down.