GAZA CITY // Most of the 180 Fatah supporters who fled into Israel from the Gaza Strip after a dramatic escape from Hamas action, will be returned to the Gaza Strip today, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The men, members of a Gaza clan linked to Fatah, escaped to Israel under fire yesterday after a Hamas crackdown on their family's stronghold left nine people dead. Hamas said its forces had detained about 30 of the Fatah supporters who had already been sent back to Gaza. Officials said this was keeping with a request from the moderate Palestinian president, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, to send the men back. The wounded would be allowed to remain in Israeli hospitals, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been officially released to the public. Nimr Hammad, a political adviser to Mr Abbas, said everyone wanted by Hamas would be allowed to remain in the West Bank for their safety. He would not say how many were included in each group or offer an explanation for the move. Israel said it was Mr Abbas who originally asked to let the men through, but the Palestinian leader might fear that allowing the men to stay in the West Bank would be handing Hamas a victory while weakening his own supporters in Gaza. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Hamas had arrested the men who were sent back and would question them. Any not involved in illegal acts would be released, he said. Wary Israeli troops allowed the Gazans to cross the heavily-guarded border yesterday, stripping them first to make sure none were wearing explosives. When the soldiers went to open the gate, heavy fire erupted, apparently from Hamas forces, said Col Ron Ashrov, an Israeli military commander in the border area. Twenty-two of those who crossed were injured, he said. Mortar shells hit near the crossing as the Palestinians fled their homes for the territory of their longtime enemy. The Israeli soldiers prepared stretchers, and ambulances rushed the badly wounded to nearby hospitals.
The incident began yesterday when Hamas forces launched a raid on a crowded Gaza City neighbourhood dominated by the Hilles clan, linked to Fatah. The sides battled each other with mortars and machine guns. Three Hamas men were killed, along with six Fatah supporters, and nearly 90 were wounded in what was one of Gaza's bloodiest rounds of internal fighting since Hamas seized the territory more than a year ago. The Hamas raid was part of an intensifying weeklong campaign sparked by a mysterious explosion on July 25 that killed five Hamas men and a six-year old girl. Hamas blamed Fatah and began rounding up the rival group's members.
Fatah denied the charge and launched a retaliatory offensive against Hamas in the West Bank. Hamas alleged that the Hilles clan was hiding those who perpetrated the attack. The Islamic group's forces prevailed after heavy fighting in the neighbourhood's streets, and many of the clan's men fled in the direction of the border fence. Mr Abbas and the Egyptian government contacted Israel and asked to let them through, and the Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak agreed, according to Israeli military officials.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because the request was not officially made public. The incident punctuated one of the new realities of the conflict: Palestinian infighting has become so bitter that some Palestinians fear Israel less than they do each other.
Haim Ramon, the Israeli vice premier, said today that Israel had a responsibility to help supporters of Mr Abbas, who is negotiating a peace deal with Israel. "We have to decide on one central and basic position, and that is that we co-operate and want to help the pragmatic forces among the Palestinians, those who want to negotiate with us and who are fighting the radical Islam of Hamas, those who oppose terrorism," Mr Ramon told Army Radio.
*AP/Reuters