Gunmen kill 2 Israeli informers in Gaza hospital

By Joel Greenberg
Chicago Tribune

HATEM MOUSSA / AP Palestinian police officers guard a Gaza City hospital yesterday, where gunmen earlier killed two wounded Israeli informers.

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The killings heightened concerns about spreading lawlessness in the Palestinian areas, which in recent weeks have seen violence triggered by factional power struggles and demands for reforms in the Palestinian Authority.

Yesterday's violence began when a Gaza Central Prison guard hurled two hand grenades into a cell that held inmates convicted of serving as informers for the Israeli security services.

Seven prisoners were injured; one later died of his wounds.

At Shifa Hospital in downtown Gaza City, where the wounded were treated, gunmen entered the room of Mahmoud al-Sharif and shot him in the head, police and medical staff said.

Al-Sharif was convicted in 1999 of giving Israel information that led to the killing of his cousin, an Islamic Jihad leader.

A few hours later, about 20 men in four vehicles pulled up at the hospital and blocked the street as four gunmen went into the intensive-care unit and fatally shot Walid Hamdiyeh.

The dead prisoner had been convicted in 2002 of giving information that helped Israeli security forces track and kill five Hamas members, including Imad Akel, a commander of the group's armed wing.

Unarmed guards patrol the Gaza City hospital, but entry is unrestricted.

Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for the grenade attack and Hamdiyeh's death.

 
Also

An explosion today in a Gaza Strip area where the Israeli army was operating killed at least three people and wounded 10, Palestinian witnesses said. What caused the blast that shook the Rafah refugee camp was unclear.

In Jerusalem yesterday, Israel approved 600 new housing units for the West Bank's biggest Jewish settlement despite an understanding with the U.S. not to expand enclaves on occupied land, political sources said. The plan would add homes to Maale Adumim, a suburban-style settlement with 30,000 people just east of Jerusalem. The settlement straddles territory Palestinians seek for an independent state under a U.S.-led "road map" peace plan.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.