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A Rumble in Gaza

(AFP/Jordan Times, 5Sep05) Ned Parker - It started when Sidqi Barbakh, 29, revved the wheels of his blue Mercedes, spewing dirt in the faces of Hamas fighters manning a nighttime checkpoint in Rafah's Brazil neighborhood. Barbakh counted on his status as a PA intelligence agent and his tribal ties with his 15,000-strong clan that flaunts a reputation for never steering away from a fight. A few days later Hamas members jumped a car carrying someone they thought was Barbakh, whom they proceeded to beat. Finally, the Hamas men hunting Barbakh for a week pumped 12 shots into his car when he tried to speed by their checkpoint, wounding him and his brother Walid. Within minutes, a car of men sprayed bullets into the home of Hamas' political leader in Rafah, Issa Nashar. At daylight, the Barbakhs' filed an arrest warrant against four Hamas members, including Nashar's son. Policemen went to arrest one of the Hamas members and gunmen fired warning shots. At least 40 Fatah and Hamas men flooded the area, poised with weapons. In backroom meetings, the sheikhs from the Barbakh tribe and Hamas and Fatah leaders reached a deal to defuse the crisis. Later, Barbakh vented angrily about Hamas' continued nighttime checkpoints on the streets of Rafah: "I refused to stop at their checkpoints because they are not the police. They are only masked men."
2005-09-05 00:00:00
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