Hamas fighters and looters control Gaza
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Islamist Hamas fighters and looters ransacked the blood-spattered Palestinian presidential compound in Gaza on Friday as their leader ordered an end to reprisals against their routed, Western-backed Fatah rivals.
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GAZA CITY -- The secular Palestinian party Fatah, routed in the Gaza Strip by rival Hamas forces nearly three months ago, has begun to use political protest and reassemble its armed wing in order to resist the Islamic movement's tightening hold here.
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Hamas gunmen seized control of the Gaza Strip's border crossing with Egypt on Thursday in a ferocious gunbattle with Fatah-allied border guards after Israel blocked the Hamas prime minister from crossing with tens of millions of dollars in aid.
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The two factions battled today in several parts of the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli armored vehicles backed by helicopters rolled into Palestinian-controlled areas of the northern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses said.
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JERUSALEM, June 14 -- Hamas gunmen wrested control of a key security base in Gaza City from the rival Fatah movement Thursday morning, further consolidating their hold over large swaths of the Gaza Strip.
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Border crossings crucial to the impoverished Gaza Strip's economic survival remained shut Monday, three days after the Hamas militant movement routed Fatah security forces and took over the densely populated Palestinian territory.
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Hamas fighters bombarded a major security compound belonging to the rival Fatah group in Gaza City on Thursday as the Islamist movement appeared to tighten its grip in fierce factional fighting.
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Hamas security forces go out in force to prevent Fatah supporters defying a ban on outdoor prayers in Gaza.
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The Hamas party further consolidated its control of northern Gaza today in Palestinian factional battles.
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Hamas fighters captured one of the last bastions of forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday and the Islamists declared the "liberation" of the Gaza Strip.
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JERUSALEM -- Hamas gunmen consolidated their hold over large swaths of the Gaza Strip yesterday after attacking military posts controlled by the rival Fatah movement, whose own fighters responded with a daylight raid in the West Bank, broadening the civil strife.
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Hamas battled to wrest control of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday from beleaguered Fatah forces in the latest and most brutal round of violence. Each side's supporters have hurled rivals from high-rise buildings, gunmen have roamed hospital wards looking to finish off wounded enemies and ordinary people have huddled at home, not daring to walk the streets.
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Hamas' path in consolidating control in the Gaza Strip:
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JERUSALEM -- Since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Israel has faced an increasingly complex set of military options to stop attacks from the territory, and a debate over its humanitarian responsibilities for the strip's 1.4 million people.
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Description: Palestinians held local elections Saturday for the first time in many years. Hamas, the militant group that is against rapprochement with Israel, scored well in the polls, defeating the Fatah party in many areas.
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Hamas Islamist fighters appeared in command of much of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after battering forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.