Attack near UN-run elementary school comes amid growing lawlessness in Gaza
By The Canadian Press
Sunday, May 6, 2007
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Muslim extremists attacked a children’s festival at a UN-run elementary school Sunday, killing a politician’s bodyguard and wounding seven people in the latest incident of lawlessness engulfing the Gaza Strip.
The gun and homemade bomb attack on the UN school in the southern Gaza refugee camp Rafah began with a protest by Muslim extremists in long robes, who said a sports festival the school was hosting was un-Islamic.
One protester’s sign said the UN "is turning schools into nightclubs."
Protesters also accused the top UN official in Gaza, John Ging, who was in the school, of leading a movement to weaken people’s Islamic faith.
The group of protesters tried to enter the school and Palestinian security officers fired in the air to keep them away. In the ensuing chaos, at least one bomb was thrown into the school, wounding many of the seven who were hurt. A gun battle followed.
A senior Fatah official, Majed Abu Shamaleh, was leaving the school when his bodyguard was killed in sight of terrified youngsters. Ging was not hurt.
The shooting appeared to be carried out by the same extremists behind a string of bombings of Internet cafes and pool halls in Gaza, said Abu Shamaleh.
Police said they were interrogating two of the gunmen.
The Palestinian unity government formed two months ago appears powerless to end extremist groups on foreigners, music shops and Internet cafes. Clan fighting, kidnappings and other attacks have added to the chaos.
Hours after Sunday’s attack, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met in another attempt to put together a security plan. The meeting ended without agreement, and another was set for Monday, government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said.
The author of the plan, Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh, has threatened to resign because security commanders refuse to co-operate with him, mainly because of rivalries between coalition partners Hamas and Fatah.
New statistics showed during the first three months of the year 147 Gazans, including 10 children, were killed by fellow Palestinians, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Mezan said.
Factional fighting killed 57 people in 2004, followed by 101 in 2005 and 252 last year.
"People aren’t safe," said Samir Zakkout, author of the report.
"The increasing lawlessness is putting this government at a crossroads."
Attack near UN-run elementary school comes amid growing lawlessness in Gaza
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