Palestinian Authority Forces Clash With Hamas

West Bank Battle Leaves Six Dead

Palestinian Authority security forces clashed with Hamas militants in the West Bank town of Qalqilyah early Sunday, leaving six dead, including three police officers, in the bloodiest confrontation between the rival Palestinian factions in two years.

The fight, which drew immediate threats of reprisal from Hamas, involved members of a U.S.-trained Palestinian force that has been assuming increased authority over security in the West Bank.

None of the U.S.-trained forces were killed in the clash, which started when Palestinian police officers noticed two men they thought might be armed. The officers followed the men to a house in Qalqilyah, in the northern West Bank. When they approached the house to investigate, they were attacked and killed by a grenade and automatic weapons fire, according to a local civic leader and another source with knowledge of the incident.

A group that included Palestinian police and members of the National Security Force, which is trained by the United States and Jordan, then surrounded the house and tried to negotiate the surrender of the two wanted men inside: Mohammed Samman, a leader of the military wing of Hamas, and his aide, Mohammed Yassin.

An intense gun battle broke out. Samman and Yassin were killed, along with the owner of the house, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the record.

Palestinian officials converged on the town of about 38,000 people on Sunday afternoon for the funerals of the police officers. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in Qalqilyah that the incident made him "sorry and sad."

"But we will not apologize for what happened, because our security forces have done their national duty," he said, adding that the Palestinian Authority "insists on imposing security and order."

The issue of whether recent improvements in West Bank security can be sustained by the Palestinian Authority is central to the debate over how to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. After meeting last week with President Obama, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to continue efforts to tighten West Bank security and prevent terrorist attacks on Israel.

Palestinian society is divided, with Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip and the more moderate Fatah movement remaining the dominant force in the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank. The clash in Qalqilyah reflected the split: Hamas accused Fatah of targeting its members and helping Israel, while Fatah officials accused Hamas of harboring weapons in the West Bank for planned attacks.

But the gun battle also demonstrated the increasing, sensitive role of the U.S.-trained forces. In April, the National Security Force dismantled a cache of explosives and weapons in a Qalqilyah mosque and arrested several men thought to be connected to it, the kind of counterterrorism activity more typically carried out by Israeli forces in the occupied territory.

In Gaza, thousands of Hamas supporters rallied to protest the incident. Last week, a ranking Hamas fighter was killed in a shootout with Israeli troops near the city of Hebron.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas's military wing, said the movement was considering pulling out of talks in Cairo aimed at establishing a unity government.

"What the Palestinians were doing to their brothers is threatening unity, and we will not stay quiet in front of this," he said.