Hamas, Fatah forces trade fire as tensions grow

RAMALLAH/GAZA, Dec 15 (Reuters) Security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas opened fired on a Hamas rally in the West Bank today and firefights erupted between the rival groups in Gaza, pushing the Palestinians closer to civil war.

At least 32 Hamas supporters were wounded by gunfire in the West Bank city of Ramallah, hospital officials said. Several were in critical condition, they said.

Tensions were at their highest in a decade and followed months of failed talks to form a unity government between the ruling Hamas Islamist faction and Abbas's once-dominant Fatah.

The violence broke out after Hamas, which controls the Palestinian Authority, accused a Fatah strongman and Abbas's presidential guard of trying to kill Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh outside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Although Israel was not involved in the latest fighting, its decision with US backing to prevent Haniyeh from entering Gaza with 35 million dollar intensified the standoff in which Haniyeh's convoy came under fire late yeterday.

''We know who opened fire (on Haniyeh's convoy) and they will be punished hard. From now on they will never relax and they will never sleep tight in their homes,'' said Hamas leader and Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar.

One of Haniyeh's bodyguards was killed in the incident at Rafah on Thursday. Another bodyguard, the prime minister's son and a political adviser were wounded.

Today's fighting in the occupied West Bank was the fiercest since Hamas came to power in March after trouncing Fatah in January elections.

In downtown Ramallah, Abbas's security forces, dressed in riot gear, used clubs and rifle-butts to beat back Hamas demonstrators before shooting broke out.

At about the same time, Hamas and Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip fired at each other on the streets. In a show of force, Hamas has deployed hundreds of heavily armed militants in Gaza City and other areas.

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