Gaza: Senior PA security official critically hurt
Colonel Hassan Jarbouh of Fatah wounded by gunshots fired at his car; his bodyguard, a girl also injured in incident. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for attack
Jarbouh's bodyguard and a girl were also wounded in the incident, medical sources in the Strip reported.
At this stage, no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, which appears to be another incident on the backdrop of the growing tensions between Fatah and Hamas.
Earlier, Palestinians reported of exchanges of fire erupting near the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City.
On Friday, a Palestinian civilian was critically injured in exchanges of fire between Fatah and Hamas operatives in Nablus. The Palestinian reported that Fatah members fired at approximately 200 Hamas activists and gunmen engaged in organizing a movement rally.
Quartet extends financial aid mechanism
A Palestinian civilian was killed Thursday, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar's bodyguard was kidnapped in exchanges of fire in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sabra.
Sources in the Strip believe that the gun battle was between Hamas loyalists and relatives of two Fatah members who were killed Tuesday in the same neighborhood by Hamas operatives.
This was not the first abduction to take place since the violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah erupted several weeks ago. Former Minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh, a senior Fatah official, was kidnapped in Jabalya at the beginning of the week and released about an hour and-a-half later.
A day later, gunmen kidnapped a Hamas activist in Hebron. The man, Muhammad al-Haruf, is considered a prominent Hamas member in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Quartet representatives (the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia) declared that they had agreed to extend the operation of the financial aid mechanism to the Palestinians.
The mechanism is aimed at transferring funds for humanitarian purposes directly to the Palestinian people, in light of the international boycott in the Hamas-led government. The US State Department announced that the temporary mechanism would operate at least until March.
