Gaza gunfire kills Hamas man, wounds three others
Source: Reuters
(Adds claim of responsibility) GAZA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a car in Gaza City on Tuesday, killing a Hamas commander and wounding three other group members, hospital officials said. A local clan claimed responsibility for the attack and said the Hamas commander was responsible for the killing of two family members in December. Hamas officials had accused gunmen from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction of opening fire at the vehicle from a checkpoint near a heavily-guarded security complex and the residence of Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan. A Fatah spokesman, Abdel-Hakim Awad, denied any involvement in the shooting. Factional warfare has persisted in the Gaza Strip despite a truce called at the weekend in anticipation of talks hosted by Saudi Arabia between Abbas and Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal over a possible unity government. More than 90 Palestinians have been killed in the internal clashes which escalated in December when Abbas proposed holding early elections after the breakdown of talks to forge a joint government with Hamas. Tensions have spiralled in the Gaza Strip since Hamas, an Islamist group whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, trounced Fatah in elections last year, prompting the West to suspend aid unless it moderates its stand.
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