Internal violence flares in southern Gaza
Clan fights in Khan Younis leave 3 dead; earlier, Egyptians arrested Palestinian in tunnel near Rafah
In Gaza, a gunbattle between two warring families in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday killed three people, including a bystander, medical officials said.
It is not clear what restarted the long simmering feud between the Jerwan and the Sakr clans in the town of Khan Younis.
Gunshots were heard near the home of a member of the one of the clans, prompting armed men from both families to rush to the scene in downtown Khan Younis. Heavy gunfire lasted for more than an hour, and sporadic gunshots were heard throughout the day, witnesses said.
One person was killed from each family, and a bystander was also slain. The fighting wounded seven
people, including one in serious condition, said Moaiwa Hassanein, a Health Ministry official.
Armed clashes often break out along factional and family lines across the Gaza Strip, where family members are often heavily armed.
Egyptians arrest Palestinian tunneling across border
Earlier Monday, Egyptian forces arrested a Palestinian man trying to enter the country through a tunnel on the Gaza border, security sources said on Monday.
A border patrol arrested Palestinian Ahmed Nasser Abu Raba'a in a tunnel near the memorial of the unknown soldier in the town of Rafah, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named.
Abu Raba'a was trying to get out of the opening of the tunnel into Egyptian territory when he was caught, the sources said. They did not elaborate about whether any weapons or explosives had been seized in the arrest.
In the past two months, Egyptian security forces have arrested eight Palestinians in the Egypt-Gaza border area, three of whom were suspected of planning attacks on Israeli tourists.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
