Fatah Troops Flee To Egypt
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Hamas fighters have seized Fatah’s senior field commanders in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the Islamic group announced Friday, while Egyptian police said nearly 100 Fatah officials had crossed into Egypt.
The spokesman, Abu Obeideh, said the group’s men arrested the commanders of the National Security organization and the elite Presidential Guard, along with a senior Fatah spokesman, a lawmaker and six other officials.
The men were being interrogated by Hamas, Obeideh said on Hamas TV.
Meanwhile, 97 senior members of Fatah’s security and administrative apparatus arrived in the Egyptian port of El-Arish hours after fighters from the militant Hamas group took control of Gaza, an Egyptian security official in El-Arish said.
The retreating Fatah members, who fled aboard a fishing boat, were transferred to camps affiliated to Egypt’s security forces, a police official in Cairo confirmed.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
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Associated Press Writer Ashraf Sweilam in El-Arish, Egypt contributed to this report.
