GAZA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A war of words erupted between Hamas and Fatah in parallel with clashes that left 30 people injured in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Fatah legislator Mohammad Dahlan rejected Hamas accusations that he was responsible for an attempt on the life of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, whose motorcade came under fire as he crossed to Gaza from Egypt Thursday night.
"The claim by Hamas and accusations that I have opened fire on the prime minister at Rafah crossing is untrue," Dahlan said Friday.
"By making these accusations, Hamas actually wanted to cover up for the ugly crime in which three kids were killed in Gaza city," he added, in reference to the assassination of the children of Fatah intelligence officer Bahaa Baalousha earlier this week.
Haniyeh's bodyguard was killed and his son injured in Thursday's attack on the prime minister's convoy.
In the meantime, clashes erupted in Ramallah between Palestinian security forces and Hamas gunmen. At least 30 people were wounded in the incident.
Earlier Friday, Hamas legislator Musheer Masri charged "Dahlan is directly responsible for the cowardly attempt to assassinate the Palestinian prime minister."
Masri told a press conference in Gaza that Parliament, in which Hamas controls two-thirds of the seats, "will seek to lift Dahlan's immunity as a lawmaker in order to prosecute him."
Hamas' accusation against Dahlan -- a Fatah strongman and a close aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- is likely to plunge the Palestinian scene into another vicious cycle of internal violence.
