Pro-al Qaida gunman among 11 dead in Gaza Strip clash

Eleven Palestinians, including a pro-al Qaida militant and a child, were killed yesterday in overnight gunbattles in the Gaza Strip, Hamas police officials said.

The fighting, involving Hamas security forces and mostly members of the militant Doghmosh clan, was the worst among Palestinians in the coastal territory since clashes in July in which more than a dozen died.

Hamas forces, responding to the killing of one of their policemen during an arrest operation on Monday, raided a clan stronghold in Gaza City before dawn yesterday in search of suspects, officials said.

Nine clan gunmen and a girl toddler were killed in a gun battle that went on for hours, while others were arrested, Hamas officials and medics said. A Hamas policeman also died and 40 people were wounded, they added.

One of the gunmen killed was a member of the Army of Islam, a pro-al Qaida group, a Hamas source said.

The Army of Islam was involved in the March 2007 abduction of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was held hostage for four months before being released, and the 2006 capture of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, still being held.

Others in the clan are divided between supporters of Hamas and those who back Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, whose fighters were defeated when Hamas seized control of Gaza last year.

The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said in a statement that its security forces had resorted to force against "fugitives," including the Doghmosh clan, only "after exhausting all peaceful efforts" to arrest suspects.

Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas police, said the policeman killed was shot by a sniper and that three of the clan members killed were wanted gunmen. Police said they also seized explosives and weapons during the raid.

Internal ballot

Meanwhile, thousands of Hamas members voted in a secret internal ballot in the Gaza Strip that re-elected the group's most prominent leaders to its highest bodies and signaled no change in policy.

"The election showed the wonderful face of democracy within Hamas. It was carried out smoothly," a Hamas official said about last month's vote, citing security considerations for the decision to keep it secret. "Our goals are clear and we have a policy that does not change, and that is that there can be no recognition of Israel," the official said.

Hamas officials said some veteran leaders had lost seats on the Shura Council to younger candidates but senior figures Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar and Saeed Seyam were re-elected to the policy-setting body and to the politburo.