GAZA: Thousands of Hamas supporters rally in protest over killing of children

Thousands of Palestinians attended a funeral procession for three sons of a Palestinian intelligence official loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, who were killed on Monday morning (December 11) when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a car dropping the children at school. The men carried the bodies in their hands as they marched through the city's streets towards the cemetery. Lined of cars packed with armed security troops drove along the Gaza City streets after the crowd of mourners carrying the bodies, some firing their rifles in the air. The attack in Gaza City, in which an adult bystander was also killed, came amid growing tension between the governing Hamas militant movement and Abbas's Fatah faction. Angry mourners firing automatic weapons later stormed into the compound of parliament during a funeral procession for the boys, who were aged between 6 and 9. Witnesses said the mourners fired at the building. It was unclear if anyone was hurt. Some 2,000 people took part in the funeral march, and the father - Colonel Baha Balousha - was heavily guarded throughout the procession. "If they don't chase the killers and come back to find a shared security programme between the Palestinian factions and the Palestinian Authority then there will be no state nor calm in Palestine," Balousha said, sitting at a mourners' tent, being consoled by relatives and friends. The car carrying the children was peppered with bullet holes and blood stains covered the seats. Two school bags, one green and the other blue, were still inside. Several other schools line the street, which was crowded with children at the time of the shooting. Residents said the gunmen fled with Hamas policemen in pursuit. Hospital officials said the dead bystander was a 25-year-old man. Police said two other children were wounded. Balousha, a senior intelligence official, was not in the car when it was attacked. Unknown gunmen tried to kill Balousha when they ambushed his car in Gaza in September, one of several attacks on top intelligence officials loyal to Abbas in the strip this year. Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar of Hamas condemned the attack. "I ask all the people who march and shoot in the streets, including the intelligence, security forces and others to start searching for the real killers so we could bring them to justice and to teach others what would be the result of playing with innocent children's' lives for bad causes," he told reporters in Gaza City. In the southern town of Rafah, scores of children took to the streets to protest against the price of ongoing Palestinian internal violence. Political tensions have been rising over the failure of Hamas and the formerly dominant Fatah to form a unity government that Palestinians had hoped would end the Western boycott. Aides to Abbas said on Saturday the president planned to call early elections after the unity talks foundered. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh accused Abbas of trying to topple his government, which came to power after Hamas defeated Fatah in elections in January. Haniyeh, on a trip to Iran, said fresh polls would worsen unrest. Unity talks have broken down over Hamas's rejection of Western demands to recognise Israel, and its insistence on holding the interior and finance portfolios in a new government. Abbas, a moderate who favours peace negotiations with Israel, was elected separately in early 2005.

ITN Source | December 11, 2006

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