Policeman killed in clash between Hamas, Abbas forces
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QALQILYA, West Bank (Reuters) - A policeman was killed on Thursday when Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas mounted a raid in the West Bank to arrest Hamas militants, the second such operation in the past week.
The raids, in the city of Qalqilya, appeared to be an effort by Abbas to show the United States that he was carrying out the Palestinian Authority's security commitments under a 2003 U.S.-backed peace "road map."
Adnan Damiri, spokesman for the security forces, said a gun battle erupted after police encircled a house in the city of Qalqilya where three Hamas gunmen were holed out. He said a policeman was killed. Police were calling on the gunmen to surrender.
Israel, which has demanded Abbas do more to rein in militants, has not met its "road map" obligations to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Six Palestinians -- two Hamas militants, three policemen and a bystander -- were killed in Qalqilya on Sunday. Security officials said fighting erupted after the Hamas men refused to surrender to police.
The Western-backed Abbas launched a U.S.-backed security drive in the West Bank and revived peace talks with Israel in 2007 after breaking with Hamas over the Islamist group's takeover of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has threatened to pull out of Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks with Fatah unless Abbas stopped targeting its activists in the West Bank. The talks are scheduled to resume in Cairo in July.
(Reporting by Naim Sweilem and Mohammed Assadi; Writing Joseph Nasr)
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