Hamas gunmen in Gaza (archive)
Photo: Reuters
Top Fatah official kidnapped in Gaza
Hamas gunmen kidnap advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Gaza to attend funeral; kidnapping comes as Hamas chief Haniyeh has been calling for rapprochement with Fatah
Armed gunmen burst into the home of an advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Gaza early Friday and kidnapped him, the man's family said, in the first such abduction of a politician since Hamas
forces routed their Fatah rivals and overtook the strip in June.
The man abducted, Omar Al-Ghoul, is considered a harsh critic of Hamas and has a regular newspaper column in which he frequently attacks the Islamic movement.
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Al-Ghoul arrived in Gaza from the West Bank on Thursday to attend the funeral of his mother-in law. Around 4am Friday, armed gunmen in civilian clothes burst into his Gaza home, turning it upside down and seizing Al-Ghoul, his relatives reported.
There was no claim of responsibility. Hamas officials were not immediately available for comment.
The incident followed another attempt to kidnap a Fatah official on Thursday, which failed. After its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, Hamas militants kidnapped several Fatah security officials but mostly refrained from targeting its political officials.
The kidnappig comes at a time when Hamas has signaled interest in a possible rapprochement with Fatah in the West Bank. A report in the ASharq al-Awsat newspaper published in London reported that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told Saudi officials on a recent visit to the Gulf state that his organization is ready to make concessions in an effort to heal the rift with Fatah.
Haniyeh recently said that there is a need to renew the dialogue between Hamas and Fatah. "We believe that it is essential to immediately commence talks without preconditions with the goal of patching up the tear in the Palestinian nation."
AP contributed to this report
