Six killed as Abbas forces hit Hamas in the West Bank

Six people were killed on Sunday when forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raided a Hamas hideout, just days after he promised in Washington to fulfil his security commitments. The violence erupted when police encircled a house in the West Bank town of Qalqilya where a top Hamas field commander, Mohammad Samman, and his deputy Mohammad Yasin had taken refuge, witnesses and security officials said. Both Hamas men and the homeowner died in the shootout, along with three policemen. Dozens of bullet holes in walls and furniture in the home attested to the ferocity of the fighting. It was the bloodiest internal Palestinian clash in the occupied West Bank since the Western-backed Abbas launched a security drive and revived peace talks with Israel in 2007 after breaking with Hamas over its takeover of the Gaza Strip. Samman and Yasin had ignored calls to surrender, witnesses said. Palestinian security forces spokesman Adnan Damiri said police had tried to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff. "Thousands of shots were fired at the security forces," Damiri said, adding that large quantities of explosives were discovered in the Hamas hideout. The raid was likely to widen a rift between Abbas's Fatah group and Hamas and complicate Egyptian reconciliation efforts. The operation also could boost Abbas's credentials in Washington at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama is at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing accused the Abbas-aligned forces of being "loyal to the Zionists". Abbas, the spokesman said, was directly responsible for "the crime and its consequences". Obama hosted Abbas in the White House on Thursday and complimented him on security steps he has taken in the West Bank under the 2003 peace "road map" that includes a call for a crackdown on militants. Law and order Abbas, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said he was committed to "law and order" in the West Bank and to fulfilling "all of our obligations under the road map, from A to Z". Obama noted that Abbas had been working with US General Keith Dayton, who is helping the Palestinian Authority train its security forces. It was not immediately clear if US-trained forces took part in the Qalqilya operation. Israel, which has not met its road map commitments to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements, has said the Palestinians need to do more to meet their security obligations. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, whose responsibilities include overseeing settlement construction, will hold talks in Washington this week in a bid to ease friction with Obama. On Thursday, Israeli forces killed a fugitive leader of Hamas's military wing near the West Bank city of Hebron. Hamas accused Fatah of helping Israel track him down. Fatah denied the allegation. Hamas says Abbas's Fatah-dominated security forces are pursuing a politically motivated crackdown on its activists. Fatah has made similar complaints against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas said 22 of its members were arrested in the West Bank on Saturday. A Palestinian security official said the detainees were involved in hiding weapons, money laundering and incitement to violence. Egypt has set a July 7 deadline for a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal. Security officials seized the bodies of the Hamas militants, fearing a public burial would turn into angry protests against the Palestinian Authority. Muslim tradition demands the dead should be buried quickly. Hamas officials in the West Bank said that some 40 loyalists of the group had been arrested in Qalqiliya in the past week as part of the search for the top two fugitives. In Gaza, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military wing, threatened "tough and harsh reprisal." Ehab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza, said Abbas' security forces have betrayed those fighting Israeli occupation. But Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said going after militants is key to one day setting up a Palestinian state. "To build our country and our state, we need to have one authority, one gun, one law," he said. Hamas opposes Abbas' policy of trying to negotiate a peace deal with Israel. In recent months, Abbas and Hamas have tried to reach a unity deal, but talks have run aground over Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence, a precondition for joining a coalition with Abbas supporters. Last year, 26 Palestinians were killed during Fatah and Hamas attempts to crack down on their rivals, said the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights.