Palestinian factions arrest rivals

Tensions on rise after bombings

Hamas fighters in a show of force early yesterday in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip amid tensions with Fatah. (Abid Katib for Getty Images)

JENIN, West Bank - Hamas and Fatah carried out tit-for-tat arrests of each other's followers yesterday after deadly Gaza bomb attacks fueled tension between the Palestinian factions.

In the West Bank, security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas detained 20 Hamas activists in the city of Jenin. They netted 15 more in similar raids in Tulkarem.

A security official in Jenin said the Hamas detainees would be interrogated about arms caches and militant activities.

The arrests followed a crackdown in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where Fatah officials said their Islamist rivals had rounded up nearly 200 Fatah men after one of three bomb blasts killed five Hamas militants and a girl on Friday.

Hamas policemen set up roadblocks across the Gaza Strip to check for guns, explosives and suspects, local residents said.

Police seeking Fatah activists clashed with gunmen of the Army of Islam, an Al Qaeda-inspired group, who feared they were being targeted. Two Army of Islam gunmen were arrested.

The flare-up was one of the gravest since Hamas routed its Fatah foes and seized control of Gaza a year ago, when hundreds died.

Abbas renewed calls for dialogue with Hamas, which won a majority in a 2006 parliamentary poll, and said an independent Palestinian committee should investigate Friday's blast.

Speaking in Cairo after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas said the Friday attacks were regrettable and unacceptable, but rejected Hamas accusations Fatah was behind them.

He said Egypt would invite Palestinian factions "within days" to talks in Cairo. Past attempts to mend fences between Hamas and Fatah have failed.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri rejected Abbas's call to form an investigative committee, and said it "would bypass the legitimate government, and the Hamas security forces who are doing their job."

He said investigations into Friday's deaths showed senior Fatah officials were involved.

Early yesterday, Israeli troops killed a Hamas militant, Shihab al-Natsheh, in the West Bank city of Hebron. Hamas vowed a "swift and painful" revenge.

An Israeli army spokesman said Natsheh, 25, was killed during an exchange of fire with troops who came to arrest him. The army said he had made the bomb belt used in a suicide attack in the Israeli town of Dimona in February that killed an Israeli woman and the two Palestinian attackers.