Internal Violence Brings Palestinians Closer to Civil War

The Palestinians are on the brink of civil war after further violence today between the rival Hamas and Fatah factions.

Hamas gunmen killed at least five Fatah guards this morning as they attacked the home of president Mahmoud Abbas's top security chief in Gaza.

The unrelenting violence left a two-month old unity government between Hamas Islamists and Mr Abbas's secular Fatah faction in tatters, and the Palestinians close to civil war.

The fighting at the home of Rashid abu Shbak, one of the most powerful Fatah leaders, came shortly after mortars struck near Mr Abbas's Gaza office and gunmen attacked a Hamas position outside the interior ministry building.

A Fatah official said at least five security men, including one member of Mr Abbas's elite presidential guard, were killed in the attack on Mr abu Shbak's home. At least 15 others were wounded. Mr abu Shbak was apparently not at home at the time.

A spokesman for the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militant group, part of Fatah, blamed Hamas for the violence. "Hamas's political leadership is participating in the assassination and murder of Fatah men," abu Qusai told Reuters news agency.

But Hamas blamed Fatah, saying the attack started when shots were fired from Mr abu Shbak's house at a passing Hamas patrol.

Elsewhere, gunmen pounded the main headquarters of the Fatah-dominated preventive security service with mortar bombs, sparking another gun battle in that area.

Hours earlier, gunmen shot and wounded an Egyptian official as he attempted to monitor the latest short-lived truce called by the Hamas-party prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, at the end of the worst day of bloodshed in months.

A nurse traveling in an ambulance was shot in the head and killed after being caught in crossfire, hospital officials said. That brought the death toll in four days of Gaza fighting to 30, and dozens more have been injured.

In a conversation with Mr Abbas yesterday, the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, told the Palestinian Authority that the clashes in Gaza had "crossed a red line" and said that both sides must put an end to violence.

Egypt brokered a ceasefire on Sunday when the latest fighting erupted on Friday over the vexed issue of who should control the security forces, numbering about 80,000 in Gaza and the West Bank.

When Saudi Arabia brokered Palestine's unity government in Mecca two months ago, the agreement failed to deal with the security problem.

Fatah far outnumber in terms of security forces, but Hamas's executive force, and armed wing, are believed to be better equipped and organized.