Palestinian gunmen kill three prisoners
Palestinian gunmen broke into Gaza City’s central prison today, exchanged fire with guards and killed three prisoners as part of long-running family feuds, police said.
The attackers took one of the three alive, drove him to a nearby refugee camp and executed him in the street, witnesses said. The gunmen then dumped the body into their car and drove around the camp, firing in the air from the car windows.
The shoot-out raised new questions about the ability of Palestinian security forces to restore order in the volatile Gaza Strip, as Israel and the Palestinians try to cement a fragile ceasefire.
The three inmates killed had been awaiting trial for their involvement in two separate shooting deaths in the Bureij refugee camp. The attackers were members of the families of the two victims, police said.
Early today, the gunmen broke into the central jail, firing at the guards. Sounds of heavy shooting could be heard in downtown Gaza for about two hours, witnesses said.
The prison attack is the most severe challenge to Palestinian security forces since Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas took office a month ago, with a promise of restoring law and order.
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