GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: A senior Gaza Hamas official warned Tuesday that his Islamic militant group could overrun the West Bank, just as it took over Gaza, if provoked by its rivals in Fatah.
The official, Sami Abu Zuhri, spoke as tensions between the two groups remained high following a bombing that killed five Hamas members in Gaza and a Hamas sweep that ended with 11 dead and dozens wounded, most of them from Fatah.
Abu Zuhri, told The Associated Press that Fatah should expect "an uprising" against them if they continued a crackdown against Hamas there.
A West Bank Fatah official responded that Hamas was issuing empty threats. After Hamas expelled Fatah forces from Gaza in June 2007, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah set up a government in the West Bank. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintains a large military presence and overall security control in the West Bank.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/05/africa/ME-Palestinians-Hamas-Threat.php