At least 15 killed in Hamas-Fatah fighting

Gaza, May 16: At least 15 Palestinians were killed, eight in one incident in the deadliest fighting between Hamas and Fatah since the rivals formed a unity government to end bloodshed threatening to spill into civil war.

Gunbattles raged into the night as masked fighters vied for control of the Gaza streets. Hamas fully deployed its armed wing in a sign it was preparing for wider conflict.

For many Palestinians, the violence was particularly disturbing, coming on the ''Nakba'', an annual day of national reflection over shared suffering in the conflict with Israel.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas convened an emergency meeting of faction leaders in a bid to ''put an end to the fighting''. Egypt and Saudi Arabia pressed Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction to rein in their forces.

A Fatah spokesman said Hamas gunmen had killed eight members of Abbas's Presidential Guard in an attack near Karni Crossing, Gaza's main commercial entry point into Israel.

The Fatah-affiliated guardsmen were en route to help comrades under assault by Hamas at a training base near the crossing when Israeli forces across the frontier opened fire at them, according to the spokesman, Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.

''Some of the vehicles overturned and some of the men were wounded. The forces retreated but they were ambushed by Hamas gunmen, who finished them off,'' he said.

An unidentified Fatah security man who said he had been wounded in the incident told Palestinian television ''They came and shot the wounded. They left me, believing I was dead.'' Hamas's armed wing denied the allegation, blaming the deaths on Israel and accusing Fatah of killing one of its commanders earlier today. The Israeli military said it had fired at two gunmen who approached the border fence, hitting one of them.

Raising tensions further, Hamas said one of its senior figures was ''executed'' at a checkpoint manned by Fatah fighters.

Fatah had no immediate comment.

ROCKETS HIT ISRAEL In an attempt to shift the focus of fighting towards Israel, Hamas said it fired a round of rockets at the town of Sderot.

Two houses were hit and at least four Israelis were injured.

''Israel will not restrain itself forever ... we will choose the time and place to respond,'' said Miri Eisin, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman.

Israeli aircraft fired into uninhabited areas of north Gaza to try to prevent further rocket attacks, the army said.

Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah formed a unity government two months ago in a Saudi-brokered deal that failed to resolve the crucial issue of control over security forces, and left armed groups fighting deadly turf wars.

''We hoped that our fears would vanish after the unity government was created. I guess we are wrong. We are getting closer to civil war today,'' said Gaza resident Nabil Zaki, 32.

A truce announced late yesterday never took hold, and at least 24 people have been killed in violence since Friday.

Palestinian leaders renewed appeals for calm in speeches marking the annual ''Nakba'', or what Palestinians describe as the tragedy that befell them when Israel became a state in 1948.

In a challenge to Hamas, a 450-strong contingent of Fatah fighters that had received advanced training in Egypt entered the Gaza Strip with Israeli approval, Western sources said.

The United States has earmarked millions of dollars to provide training and non-lethal equipment to the Presidential Guard, which is widely seen as a counterforce to Hamas gunmen.

Reuters>