Hamas Clash With Security Forces Leaves Six Dead - washingtonpost.com

Hamas Clash With Security Forces Leaves Six Dead - washingtonpost.com

Palestinian security forces clashed with Hamas militants in the West Bank town of Qalqilya early this morning, leaving six dead, including three Palestinian police officers.

The fight was the most intense yet involving members of a U.S.-trained Palestinian force that has been assuming increased authority over security in the West Bank, and it drew threats of reprisal from Hamas.

None of the U.S.-trained forces were killed in the clash, which started when Palestinian police officers noticed two men they thought might be armed. The officers followed the men to a house in Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank. When they approached the house to investigate, they were attacked and killed, according to a local civic leader and another source with knowledge of the incident.

A group that included Palestinian police and members of the National Security Force, which is trained by the United States and Jordan, then surrounded the home and tried to negotiate the surrender of the two men, both wanted members of the Islamist Hamas movement.

A gun battle broke out. Both of the Hamas men were killed, along with the owner of the home where they were sheltered, according to the source, who declined to be identifed because he was not authorized to speak for the record.

Palestinian officials converged on the town this afternoon for the funerals of the police officers. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in Qalqilya that the incident made him "sorry and sad."

"But we will not apologize for what happened because our security forces have done their national duty," he said, adding that the Palestinian Authority "insists on imposing security and order."

The issue of whether recent improvements in West Bank security can be sustained and responsibility delegated further to the Palestinian Authority is central to the debate over how to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. After meeting last week with President Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to continue efforts to tighten West Bank security and prevent terrorist attacks on Israel.

Palestinian society is divided, with Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip and the more moderate Fatah movement remaining the dominant force in the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank. The clash in Qalqilya reflected the on-going factional split between the two: Hamas accused Fatah of targeting its members and helping Israel, while Fatah officials accused Hamas of harboring weapons in the West Bank for planned attacks.

But the gunfight also demonstrated the increasing, sensitive role of the U.S.-trained troops. In April, the National Security Force dismantled a cache of explosives and weapons in a Qalqilya mosque and arrested several men thought to be connected to it, the kind of counter-terrorism activity more typically carried out by Israeli forces in the occupied territory.

In Gaza, thousands of Hamas supporters rallied in response to the incident. Last week, a ranking Hamas fighter was killed in a shootout with Israeli troops near the city of Hebron.

Abu Obaida, leader of Hamas's military wing, said the movement was considering pulling out of talks in Cairo aimed at establishing a unity government.

"What the Palestinians were doing to their brothers is threatening unity, and we will not stay quiet in front of this," he said.