Israel yesterday granted requests from the Palestinian Authority and Egypt to allow entry into Israel to Fatah gunmen involved in the weekend's fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Defense Minister Ehud Barak agreed to let in 188 people, most of whom are to proceed to the West Bank immediately. Several Fatah members wounded in the clashes were taken to Israeli hospitals.
Yesterday's clashes in Gaza City's Shijaiyeh neighborhood, between Hamas forces and the Fatah-affiliated Hilles clan, left nine people dead and some 80 wounded, including 12 children. Advertisement
The fighting erupted yesterday morning, after Hamas forces raided the clan's homes, claiming its members were hiding those responsible for planting a car bomb on a Gaza beach 10 days ago, which killed five Hamas operatives and a child. Clan members denied the accusation and vowed to defend their homes.
By afternoon Hamas had gained control of the neighborhood, and house-to-house searches by hundreds of police officers had resulted in the arrests of some 50 people.
Fatah loyalists, mostly members of the Hilles clan, fled toward the Nahal Oz border crossing. Col. Ron Asherov, commander of the Israel Defense Forces brigade stationed along the northern Gaza Strip, said that the IDF opened the crossing after it became clear that it was wounded Fatah men who were seeking entry. He said that a decision was made on the spot to treat them "on a humanitarian basis." Hamas forces targeted the soldiers and fleeing Fatah men with sniper fire and mortar shells. There were no casualties.
All of the Fatah loyalists allowed to enter Israel did so after laying down their arms.
A total of 188 people entered Israel, mostly men and a few children. Twenty-two were wounded, slightly for the most part.
The Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service took three casualties with moderate to serious injuries to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva and Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
Both the Egyptian government as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad petitioned Barak's office to let the men enter Israel. The defense minister directed the IDF to perform a security check on those entering and to arrange for their transfer into the West Bank, with the exception of a handful of those requiring medical attention at Israeli hospitals. Although humanitarian reasons were cited as the reason for the decision, in its response Israel evidently wishes to signal its willingness to meet the Palestinians and Egyptians half-way. Cairo is the official mediator between Israel and Hamas in talks to secure the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Defense sources in Israel suggested yesterday that the fighting in Gaza started because of a misconception. Hamas blames Fatah for a series of attacks on the organization, including the fatal explosion on the Gaza beachfront. But Israeli officials believe Islamic forces were behind the attacks. They may have been motivated by internal turmoil in Hamas, or a confrontation with members of the radical offshoot Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), which is associated with the Dormush clan and has been at odds with Hamas since it took over the Gaza Strip a year ago.
By contrast, the Hilles clan, headed by senior Fatah member Ahmed Hilles, was permitted to keep its weapons because it cooperated with Hamas and even went so far as to attack the forces of local Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, blaming them for Hamas' violent coup.
Yesterday's spiraling violence came just days after Egypt called on Hamas and Fatah to end the bloodshed and resume reconciliation talks.
Israeli defense officials are still having trouble assessing what impact the weekend's clashes might have on the temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Of late there have been only a few incidents of Qassam rockets being launched at Israel, and it is evident that Hamas has a clear interest in maintaining the truce. However, past understandings with the Palestinians collapsed because of internal strife in the Gaza Strip, when the sides developed an interest in diverting the fire toward Israel. The IDF is preparing for that possibility, too, although at this point it does not appear to be a major risk.
Arrests in the West Bank
In response to the violence in Gaza, Palestinian Authority police officers in the West Bank yesterday enforced a new ban on mass assembly.
Palestinian security forces broke up a protest rally in Ramallah, arresting some 40 loyalists from the pan-Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party), which is not affiliated with Hamas.
In Nablus, Fatah gunmen seized a senior Hamas member, Mohammed Ghazal, and threatened to kill him unless Hamas stopped the raid in Gaza. They released him after several hours.
On Saturday, 188 supporters of Fatah were allowed to enter Israel from the Gaza Strip, said one IDF spokesman. The Fatah supporters were fleeing after a bloody conflict in Gaza City. Defense minister Ehud Barak was the one who gave the permission for the Palestinians to enter Israel. 

Flag of Hamas
Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas requested that they be allowed in on Saturday, according to the spokesman, as a result of Hamas' capture of a neighborhood in Gaza City. 

The Palestinians entered Israel at the checkpoints near Nahal Oz and Erez, kibbutzes near the border of the northern section of the Gaza Strip. They were disarmed, prior to being allowed across the border. In addition, they will be asked about the circumstances which lead them to seek refuge in Israel, said the spokesman.  

Late Saturday evening, Hamas militants took control of a eastern Gaza City neighborhood, al-Shojaeya. The Hamas police surrounded a house belonging to the pro-Fatah Helis clan, a family believed to be harboring the terrorists responsible for the July 25 bombing which claimed the lives of a six year old girl and 5 others. The battle left 4 dead, two of them Hamas militants, and close to 80 wounded. 

The spokesman said that "they the Palestinians were asking to enter the state of Israel after being threatened by Hamas gunmen." The majority of the Palestinians entering Israel were from the Helis clan that had been involved in the gun battle. 

22 of the of 188 were wounded, with the majority of the injuries being minor. Ambulances from Magen David Adom took 3 of the more severely injured to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba as well as Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. The rest were transported to Ramallah in the West Bank. 

The act of allowing the Palestinians to cross into Israel could perhaps be a sign of Israel's support, according to ''CNN.'' The IDF spokesman stated that "it was a sort of humane gesture."