Last update - 00:00 15/06/2007
Israel Prison Service separates Hamas and Fatah inmates
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Prison Service on Friday separated Palestinian security prisoners affiliated with Fatah and those from Hamas, in the wake of the bloody fighting between the two sides that left Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip.
The Service had received intelligence information indicating that factional violence could break out among the prisoners due to the events in Gaza.
This is the first time the Prison Service has separated prisoners on such short notice, without fighting having preceded the move.
By Friday morning, some 1,200 Fatah-linked inmates had been separated from 800 Hamas-affiliated men in Ketziot Prison.
In Ofer Prison, 900 security prisoners - about half connected with Hamas and half with Fatah - were also segregated.
The Service was to send security reinforcements Friday to the two jails, in order to help suppress any riots that may develop.
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