Palestinian Parties Seek Unity As Violence Escalates

Members of the militant Hamas group and the more moderate Fatah party met in the West Bank today to try to stop a wave of violence between the two dominant forces in Palestinian politics spiralling into civil war.

Leaders from the two groups gathered in Ramallah, with the prime minister and Hamas member, Ismail Haniyeh, opening the meeting with a call for political unity.

Nine people have been killed this month in clashes between armed members of Hamas, which won the general election in January, and Palestinian security forces controlled by Fatah, which is headed by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected separately last year.

As well as fears about escalating violence, the fighting has left the Palestinian leadership divided at a potentially crucial time when Israel is attempting to finally fix its borders in the West Bank.

Addressing a joint session of the US Congress in Washington yesterday, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said he wanted to work with the Palestinians but could not wait "forever", warning that his country would draw its own borders if necessary.

Mr Haniyeh called today for Hamas and Fatah to work out a joint political platform, something currently made difficult by Hamas's continued refusal to recognise Israel as a state.

"The area of agreement in political vision is very close, but we need to strengthen our national unity," Mr Haniyeh said. "We affirm our position to unify our political vision, because it will give us the confidence of our people."

He said the two groups would act to prevent violence getting out of control: "We are not going to engage in a Palestinian-Palestinian conflict."

But Mr Haniyeh also insisted that his government would not compromise politically to try to end an economic boycott of the Palestinian Authority.

"I want to assure here, and make it clear for all parties, that the Palestinian government and the Palestinian people will not make any compromise that harms the Palestinian goals and rights," he said.

The US and EU have frozen funding for the Palestinian Authority since the election, saying that Hamas - which both consider to be a terrorist organisation - must renounce its call for the destruction of Israel.

Since Hamas was elected, Mr Abbas has worked hard to ensure he maintains control of Palestinian security forces. Hamas responded last week by sending its own militants - answerable to the cabinet rather than the presidency - into the streets of Gaza.

Yesterday, a security forces area commander and ally of Mr Abbas died when his car was blown up in Gaza City.