Israel sends Fatah members who fled Gaza to West Bank

Israel sends Fatah members who fled Gaza to West Bank TEL AVIV, NSI August 5, 2008 - Israel transferred 88 Fatah members who fled Gaza after clashes with militant group Hamas to the West Bank on Monday, the Israel army press office said. The men were taken in buses to a security compound controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah forces in the town of Jericho. Another 60 Fatah supporters are either in hospital in Israel or being questioned by Israeli security forces. Israel earlier said about 180 members of the Hilles clan, a powerful family in the Gaza Strip affiliated with the Fatah movement, had entered Israel on Saturday following an attack by Hamas on their neighborhood in the enclave, during which 11 people were killed and over 90 wounded. Hamas said it had attacked the clan's compound to arrest men involved in a bombing in Gaza on July 25 in which five Hamas members and a young girl died. Israel sent about 30 Fatah members back to Gaza on Sunday, following a request from Abbas, who had pledged security for his supporters in the Gaza Strip. However, several of them were immediately arrested by Hamas security forces, prompting Israel to end the process and transfer the fugitives to the Fatah-controlled West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been controlled by Hamas since June last year, leaving President Abbas in charge of only the West Bank. Fatah and Hamas have been bitterly divided since then.