Hamas Gunmen Attack Fatah Rivals

Hamas gunmen attacked rival Fatah forces at a key Gaza-Israel border crossing yesterday, killing at least five people and drawing gunfire from nearby Israeli troops, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.

The attack was the deadliest single incident in three days of factional fighting.

Witnesses saw at least five bodies from the pro-Fatah Presidential Guard taken into a hospital morgue.

The incident also threatened to draw Israel into the latest wave of Palestinian infighting.

Israel’s army confirmed it had fired at a group of gunmen who approached the border, identifying a hit. Palestinian medical officials confirmed one person was killed.

Yesterday’s fighting is the third day of violence, as a fragile unity government agreement appeared to fall apart.

Palestinians awoke to the sound of gunfire at different points around the coastal strip yesterday as the warring factions, Fatah and Hamas, accused each other’s forces of breaking a cease-fire reached late on Monday.

Gunmen exchanged heavy gunfire at a security compound in Gaza City and a nearby junction was empty except for a few cars hurriedly abandoned by passengers.

The violence followed the resignation of a frustrated top security official whose appointment as an independent was a keystone of the unity agreement reached two months ago.

One Hamas man was killed in fighting early yesterday in Gaza City in a shoot-out with Palestinian security, Palestinian security officials said.

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