Four Palestinian policemen, two Hamas gunmen and a bystander were killed in a clash in the Israeli-occupied West Bank today, Palestinian security officials said.
The incident was among the bloodiest internal Palestinian confrontations since US-backed President Mahmoud Abbas pressed a security drive and revived peace talks with Israel after breaking with Hamas over its 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip.
Security officials said police raided Qalqilya town before dawn to arrest Hamas members, touching off gunfights. They named the dead Hamas men as Mohammad Yasin and Mohammad Samman. The names of the dead policemen were not immediately given.
The owner of a home in which Hamas gunmen had been hiding was also killed, Palestinian security officials said.
Witnesses said several Hamas gunmen holed up in buildings had ignored calls to surrender. Hamas had no immediate comment.
The incident is likely to widen a rift between Abbas's secular Fatah faction and Islamist Hamas, which sees itself as locked in a holy war with the Jewish state.
US President Barack Obama met Mr Abbas in the White House last week and described ensuring Israel's security as key to advancing peace. The Obama administration has also stirred concern in Israel's government by demanding a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Hamas says Mr Abbas's Fatah-dominated security forces are pursuing a politically motivated crackdown on its activists. Fatah has lodged similar complaints against the Hamas administration in Gaza.
Hamas said 22 of its members were arrested in the West Bank yesterday. A Palestinian security official said the detainees were involved in hiding weapons, money laundering and incitement to violence.
Egypt, which has been trying to broker inter-factional reconciliation, has set a July 7th deadline for a deal to bridge their divisions.
Reuters