Gaza violence abates, Israel threatens action

GAZA, May 17 (Reuters) Fighting between rival Palestinian factions in Gaza abated today after a new ceasefire deal but Israel threatened to step up attacks on militants firing rockets across the border.

''We have had enough. Israel will take all defensive measures to protect our citizens from these Hamas rockets,'' said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

At least two Israelis were lightly wounded by rocket salvoes in the southern town of Sderot.

The latest in a series of ceasefires declared in Gaza since fighting erupted on Friday between Islamist Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction was followed by a steep drop in the level of violence.

But gunmen were still out in force and a Hamas member was critically wounded in an early morning shooting. Fatah said at least five of its men were abducted by its rival, incidents that strained the truce aimed at preventing civil war.

More than 40 people have died in some of the most brutal internal fighting Palestinians have experienced.

Many of Gaza's 1.5 million residents have been holed up in their homes since Friday as masked fighters battled from sidewalks and rooftops for dominance. Despite today's relative calm, many shops and schools remained closed.

Abbas appeared likely to call off plans to travel to Gaza today for crisis talks with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. It was unclear how the two-month-old Hamas-Fatah unity government would survive and function.

BITTER DIFFERENCES Ahmed Youssef, Haniyeh's political adviser, suggested Saudi Arabia and Egypt could invite Hamas and Fatah leaders to a summit to heal the wounds.

The unity government was agreed in Saudi-brokered talks in Mecca that left unsettled who would ultimately wield control over Palestinian security services and Hamas's Executive Force, now at the centre of the infighting.

In Israel, Olmert also faces a dilemma.

Struggling to stay in office after an official report sharply criticised his handling of last year's war in Lebanon, Olmert is under heavy domestic pressure to stop the rockets without getting bogged down in another inconclusive conflict.

At the same time, Olmert knows a wide-ranging Israeli military response in Gaza could have a major influence on the course of Fatah's power struggle with Hamas.

Israel wants Abbas to prevail but overt assistance for Fatah could backfire if Hamas is able to paint Abbas as an ally of the Jewish state, which many Palestinians regard as their real enemy.

The Israeli government threatened to respond in a ''severe'' manner to the ongoing salvoes, which have persisted despite Israel's troop and settler pullout from Gaza in 2005. Israeli air strikes killed five Hamas militants on Wednesday.

Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said militant groups' commanders and rocket production facilities would be on Israel's target list along with the squads launching attacks.

Israeli officials said Israel had no immediate plans to hit Hamas's political leadership and played down the likelihood of a sustained ground offensive. They said Israel was more likely to move in and out quickly to try to establish a buffer.

REUTERS SKB HT1614