Nine Palestinians were wounded in separate gunbattles yesterday, which included a clash between militants and members of the security forces outside a government ministry over jobs and late salaries, witnesses said.
Dozens of gunmen stormed Gaza's government compound, exchanging fire with Palestinian police, and witnesses said four people were wounded, two gunmen and two policemen.
The takeover by the gunmen, affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, came a day after the rival Hamas group, which won January parliamentary elections, presented its new Cabinet to Abbas for approval.
Many Fatah activists fear for their government jobs under Hamas rule.
Three dozen gunmen firing in the air charged toward the complex, which includes the foreign and finance ministries. Moments later, Palestinian police jeeps pulled up to the buildings and exchanged fire with the gunmen.
Eventually, police stormed the ministry and began searched for the gunmen, going room to room. Dozens more officers surrounded the buildings. Three al-Aqsa gunmen were eventually arrested.
Earlier in the day, gunmen briefly took over Gaza's power plant, blocked a road leading to the main Israel-Gaza crossing point and briefly entered a military hospital.
On the road leading to Erez, the three dozen gunmen blocking the road exchanged fire with policemen trying to remove them from the area.
Two gunmen and a policeman were wounded in the incident.
The firefight erupted along a road Abbas needs to use to leave the Gaza Strip. Abbas was scheduled to leave Gaza yesterday morning and head to the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Two dozen gunmen also briefly infiltrated Gaza's power plant elsewhere in Gaza, exchanging fire with security forces and wounding two policemen, officials said.
Hamas unveiled its full Cabinet list yesterday, as expected putting loyal members in charge of all key ministries including the foreign affairs, interior and finance posts.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader in Gaza whom Israel has tried to assassinate, was made foreign minister, according to the Cabinet list.
Another Hamas leader, Saeed Seyam, was interior minister, putting him in charge of several security agencies.
Omar Abdel-Razeq, a prominent West Bank economics professor and Hamas election official, was named finance minister.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS