A firefight broke out on Wednesday in Gaza City between two groups belonging to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the Palestinian faction, Fatah. At least one man was wounded during the exchange.
The two groups began exchanging fire when several men stormed the headquarters of the Fatah Central Committee, reportedly in protest of Fatah's anticipated parliamentary list nominations for the upcoming January elections, according to RNA.
On Tuesday, several offices of the Central Elections Committee (CEC) in the West Bank and Gaza were also stormed by Fatah members protesting the list assignments to candidates who they feel are corrupt and no longer represent the group.
The parliamentary list composition for the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to be announced on Wednesday after having been postponed due to internal debate.
Several Fatah officials described the situation between different camps within the group as in a state of overall "war," with members of the group involved in a bitter quarrel over the list's makeup in preparation for the elections.
As a result of the turmoil, it is expected that Abbas will seek to delay elections in an attempt to resolve the party's disputes.
Fatah sources claim that Abbas is being pressured from the younger generation of the movement, most of who are supporters of Marwan Barghouti, who won the primary elections, and veteran central committee members, headed by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
Abbas will likely form a list which will include considerable number of veteran and senior members, leaving leaders of the younger generation at the bottom of the list, or outside it completely.
The younger leadership fears that the movement will not present a strong enough team to compete against Hamas in the elections.
Some, however, have hinted that Marwan Barghouti may found a new independent movement.
Another possibility would be that Abbas would place Barghouti at the head Fatah's list, but those next in line would all be veteran members of the movement.
Nightly West Bank raids continue
At least 23 Palestinians were arrested Wednesday by Israeli troops in raids throughout the West Bank. The men were reportedly apprehended in the towns of Jenin, Qabatya, Tulkarem and Bethlehem.
15 of the men were arrested in Qabatya after intense gunfire exchange, according to WAFA, in a raid throughout the town. Three men identified as Samer Darwish, Osama Shunar and Mohammad Majadla were arrested in Tulkarem.
