Three gunmen were killed on Monday when fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip between Fatah forces backing President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists, in the most serious Palestinian internal strife since Hamas came to power.
The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend.
Abbas and Haniyeh, whose militant Islamist group won a January 25 parliamentary election, are embroiled in a power struggle over control of the security forces that has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war between the feuding factions.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, a fire witnesses said appeared to have started in a fuse box broke out in the Palestinian parliament. Black smoke briefly poured from the roof as workers evacuated the four-storey building.
No one was hurt in the fire, which was quickly put out.
The Gaza clashes began overnight when, according to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Fatah security men "kidnapped" three members of Hamas's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al Qassam brigades.
Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where the men were being held and captured four Fatah men, Abu Zuhri said. A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, he added. At least 11 people, including a 16-year-old youth, were wounded.
Giving a different version of events, Fatah said fighting erupted after Qassam gunmen from a new Hamas-backed police force, whose creation Abbas has opposed, set up a checkpoint and tried to detain the bodyguard of a top Fatah security official.
As clashes ensued, Fatah said in a leaflet confirming the casualty figures given by Hamas, Qassam gunmen fired rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons at three Fatah vehicles and set off explosives.
The fighting subsided after three hours as leaders from both groups attempted to negotiate an end to hostilities.
Haniyeh, speaking to reporters, called for restraint.
"I have issued direct and firm instructions to the Interior Ministry to take all necessary measures to end the bloodshed and tension, using all Palestinian security forces to ensure these events do not continue or spread to other areas," he said.
Local residents said the tension might spill over again when the funerals for the three dead are held later in the day.
A spokesman for Fatah called for an end to the fighting and "a responsible dialogue to stop the bloodshed in Khan Younis and to prevent the clashes from spreading to other areas".
Fatah activists have bristled over the rise to power of Hamas over their mainstream faction, which long dominated Palestinian politics.
Rivalries between Fatah and Hamas deepened after Abbas appointed a Fatah loyalist to a senior post in the Interior Ministry, which supervises the security forces, so that he could exert more influence over the Hamas-run ministry.
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