A bomb blast damaged the Gaza home of a bodyguard of Fatah
kingpin Mohammed Dahlan Sunday, as gunmen from rival Palestinian
factions exchanged fire in a third day of infighting that has
killed 22 people.
The sounds of exploding grenades and automatic weapons fire
echoed across Gaza City as gunbattles raged, witnesses said. But
there were no casualties reported in either the bomb blast or the
fighting.
The clashes are the worst among Palestinians since the Islamist
Hamas group rose to power a year ago, unseating President Mahmoud
Abbas' once dominant Fatah.
Efforts to forge a unity government between the two have so far
failed, and the violence has prompted Hamas to call off the latest
round of coalition talks.
Hostilities have spiraled since two Hamas security officials
were killed on Thursday night in a bombing which the Islamist
movement blamed on fighters linked to Fatah.
In the latest skirmishes, Hamas gunmen and members of the
Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Service clashed outside its
main headquarters in Gaza, witnesses said.
Snipers took up positions on rooftops as Hamas and Fatah gunmen
exchanged fire below.
There were also gunbattles outside the headquarters of the
Hamas-led police in the city, witnesses said.
Sunday's bombing was the second in five days against a target
possibly linked to Dahlan.
?
Hamas supporters have accused Dahlan, tipped as a possible
successor to Abbas, of masterminding a plot to kill Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Dahlan denies it and his aides say the
charges aim to cover up Hamas failures in government.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian
government have all expressed welcome to an offer by Saudi Arabia
to host talks among fighting rivals under sponsorship of the Saudi
authorities.
A high-ranking Egyptian delegation presented a five-point
initiative to the conflicting Palestinian factions, calling for an
immediate end of infighting between Palestinian rival
movements.
However, the armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas militants
show no signs of ceasing, in spite of the intense mediation efforts
by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
(China Daily via Agencies, Xinhua News Agency January
29, 2007)
