Fatah-Linked Commander Shot Dead

A quagmire in Gaza.

A militant commander affiliated with Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement was shot dead on Sunday, in the most serious attack since Abbas launched a new security plan aimed at calming a wave of violence in the Gaza Strip last week.

Fatah quickly blamed the rival Hamas group, its partner in the Palestinian government, and the dead man's comrades vowed revenge. Hamas denied involvement.

In another sign of the prevailing lawlessness in the coastal strip, three employees of the Gaza electrical company were shot and seriously wounded while driving in a company car in Gaza City, hospital officials and Palestinian security officials said. The employees were out collecting unpaid bills.

The dead militant was identified as 32-year-old Baha Abu Jarad of the pro-Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He was shot while driving through the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, and later died of his wounds, hospital officials said. Fatah issued a statement accusing Hamas of the shooting. In a separate message, the Al Aqsa group said it had identified the killers as two local Hamas activists.