5 Hamas men kidnapped in n. Gaza, 3 later released

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Five Hamas militants were kidnapped by loyalists of the rival Fatah Party who stopped their car at gunpoint in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya late Monday, militants from Hamas and other factions said. Three were released after about an hour following mediation by three other militant groups, said one of the mediators, Mohammed Madhoun of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Hamas said two others continued to be held. There was no comment from Fatah on the latest incident of violence between the two groups. The Hamas militants were driving near the house of a Fatah leader when gunmen stopped their car, seized them, then torched the vehicle, Hamas said.