IDF troops on the Gaza border fire on residential areas of Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1 Palestinian; fire on residential areas of alQarara in s. Gaza, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus (detaining a PA Military Intelligence officer whose brother is wanted). In Gaza City, the Daghmash clan kidnaps several Hamas mbrs.; later in the day, Daghmash mbrs. fatally shoot 3 mbrs. of the Diri clan, a pro-Hamas family, and wound 5 others. In the West Bank, suspected Fatah gunmen kidnap Dep. Mayor of Nablus Mahdi Hambali in Nablus, Interior Min. official Ihad Ghidhan from the Interior Min. offices in Ramallah; Ghidhan is shot, wounded, released later in the day. Suspected Fatah mbrs. also shoot, wound Hamas-affiliated al-Najah University lecturer Marwan Qaddumi in his home in Nablus. In Hebron, AMB mbrs. enforce a strike, prevent stores fr. opening to protest Hamas attacks in Gaza. In Gaza City, a Hamas mbr. dies of injuries he sustained on 12/29 when explosives he was handling detonated prematurely. (HA, NYT, WT 1/7; OCHA 1/10; PCHR 1/11)
Saturday, January 6, 2007