Palestinian truce holds despite sporadic attacks

GAZA, Jan 31 (Reuters) A ceasefire between the governing Hamas movement and the once-dominant Fatah faction largely held in the Gaza Strip for a second day despite sporadic incidents of violence today.

Hospital officials said Bashir Issa, a member of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was in critical condition after being shot by gunmen who opened fire from a car in Gaza City. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Gunmen on a rooftop fired at the headquarters of the Preventive Security Service, most of whose members are loyal to Fatah. Residents said a four-minute clash ensued but no one was hurt.

The ceasefire went into effect yesterday after the deaths of at least 30 Palestinians in the fiercest internal Palestininan violence since Hamas, an Islamist group, defeated the long-dominant Fatah faction in an election a year ago.

Shops and schools had shut down during five days of bloodshed that preceded the agreement by the feuding factions to pull back from what many Gazans described as a rush towards civil war.

The violence had derailed unity government talks between Hamas and Fatah and prompted some families in the coastal strip to flee their homes.

The truce was initially threatened when Hamas blamed the Preventive Security Service for the killing yesterday of one of its commanders, Hussein Shabasi.

Hospital officials said Shabasi was shot in the head in the town of Khan Younis. The security service denied any connection with his death.

Reuters BDP GC1919