By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
Gunmen from Fatah and Hamas exchanged gunfire in Gaza City into the late hours of Monday, witnesses said, further straining a shaky ceasefire between the rival Palestinian movements.
Hamas said a Fatah activist had shot and wounded a Hamas armed activist. Witnesses said the shooting triggered the ensuing gun battle.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties from the clash.
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Also Monday, the armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas said it had freed a senior Fatah official who was abducted earlier in the Gaza Strip.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the armed wing, said Sufyan Abu Zaida, a former Palestinian cabinet minister, had been freed as "a gesture of goodwill despite the fact a leading Hamas figure remained a captive of Fatah."
Meanwhile, the armed wing of Fatah kidnapped 11 Hamas militants in response to Abu Zaida's abduction. The group had threatened to kill three of the abductees if Abu Zaida was not released.
Abu Zaida was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip earlier Monday evening, officials said, threatening to derail a day-old truce between Fatah and the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Abu Zaida was captured in the northern Gaza Strip, a Fatah official said.
There were claims of responsibility, but the official said Hamas was believed to be behind the kidnapping. A Palestinian security source said Hamas gunmen abducted a total of nine Fatah activists on Monday.
Fatah sources said Hamas had threatened Abu Zaida would only be released in exchange for Emad Deeb, a Hamas official snatched earlier in northern Gaza.
Gunmen kill Fatah activist, wound 3 Fatah sources said earlier Monday evening that gunmen had killed a Fatah activist in the Jabalya refugee camp northern Gaza Strip and wounded three others, as factional violence continued in the Strip despite the truce declared the night before. The sources blamed the attack on Hamas.
Also Monday evening, masked gunmen kidnapped the brother of a Fatah parliamentarian in northern Gaza, the man's family said.
Alaa Yaghi, a member of the Palestinian parliament from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, said his brother was snatched from the Fatah-affiliated charity association where he worked. Yaghi blamed Hamas for the kidnapping, saying it was carried out "as a message to me and the movement."
Hamas officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Monday to press on with early elections as a truce between his security forces and the Hamas government threatened to unravel in the Gaza Strip.
Rival Fatah and Hamas forces exchanged fire Monday near the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza, in the latest breach of a shaky new cease-fire between the sides.
A spokesman for Hamas's "executive force" said the fighting was between Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah-dominated presidential guard and Interior Ministry police guarding the building.
Earlier in the day, gunmen from Hamas and Fatah faced off in a gunbattle in the middle of Gaza City, wounding one teenager in the neck, hours after officials from the feuding Hamas and Fatah factions announced that a cease-fire agreement had been reached.
Residents, meanwhile, denied reports of a dawn gunbattle around Abbas's home in Gaza. "Calm is continuing despite the fact that there were some serious violations," said Abdel-Hakim Awad, a Fatah spokesman.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "Hamas will abide by the agreement ... The issue is also dependent on the commitment of the other side."
Presidential guards were still maintaining tight security around Abbas's office, which came under mortar attack on Sunday. The president was not in Gaza at the time. Abbas's guards were also still in charge of the Hamas-led Agriculture and Transport ministries, although they allowed several employees to enter.
Clashes continue after truce announced Late on Sunday, as the truce was signed, gunfire could still be heard near Abbas' offices in Gaza City, witnesses said. Other bystanders reported a major gun battle near Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan's house in Gaza.
The truce was brokered by three small Palestinian factions - the Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Hamas official Ismail Rudwan said the groups had agreed to resume talks on forming a unity government, halt armed displays, return security forces to their headquarters, release men abducted by each side and end a siege of government ministries.
"Fatah is trying to control its forces. We hope there will be a cease-fire. We have serious intentions of stopping the fighting," Fatah spokesman Tawfik Abu Khoussa said. "It is now up to the other side to
also stop firing."
The agreement includes an end to the fighting, the removal of armed gunmen from the streets, an end to all demonstrations and incitement in the media, and the release of captives by both sides, said Salah Zidan, a senior official in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Zidan said the factions have agreed to establish a joint committee to investigate the recent violence, including the attack on Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's convoy in Rafah late Thursday night.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh vowed Sunday that his Hamas party would not participate in fresh elections, and branded Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' remarks on the matter "inflammatory."
(Click here for a timeline of factional violence in the Palestinian Authority over the last year).
Fatah boycotts press conference after officer executed Fatah officials decided to boycott the joint press conference scheduled for Sunday night to protest the abduction and execution of a Palestinian Authority security officer, Adnan Rahmi.
The execution raised to three the number of Palestinians killed in a day of escalating violence between Hamas and Fatah.
Rahmi, a member of Fatah, was abducted by a group of armed militants in the Shaja'iya neighborhood in Gaza City, and his body was dumped at a hospital in northern Gaza.
Hamas gunmen opened fire at a large political rally by the rival Fatah movement earlier Sunday, wounding three people, Palestinian security officials said. An estimated 100,000 Fatah supporters were participating in the rally.
Also Sunday, two mortar shells were fired at a Force 17 postition near Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' residence in Gaza, wounding four members of the elite presidential guard. Abbas is currently in the West Bank.
A Fatah official accused Hamas of violating an agreement reached with Egyptian mediation, according to which Hamas was to withdraw its forces from several positions in the Gaza Strip. Nonetheless, the official said, after a short while Hamas militants fired the mortar shells at Abbas' guard.
The worsening violence comes a day after Abbas of Fatah issued a call for fresh elections. The PA chairman spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday by telephone and updated her on the violence.
Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Abed al-Aziz Duaik called for the rival factions to lay down their arms Sunday.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said Sunday the seizure of two of its ministries by forces loyal to Fatah in Gaza amounted to a "military coup."
Force 17, backed by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group loyal to Abbas's Fatah movement, took over the Hamas-run agriculture and transport ministries as they moved to secure a large swathe of central Gaza City around where Abbas has a home.
Angered by the move, forces loyal to Hamas exchanged fire with presidential guard who were positioned on the rooftops.
Zahar, also a senior Hamas leader, demanded Abbas's forces leave the agriculture and transport ministries or said they would be arrested and disarmed.
At a Fatah rally in the West Bank city of Jenin, Mohammed Dahlan, who Hamas has accused of orchestrating an attack late Thursday on Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's convoy, said: "We will not remain silent before the threats that the government and Hamas issue, and the terrorizing and the silencing and closing borders and the stealing of money."
Woman, Abbas guard killed in clashes A 19-year-old Palestinian woman was fatally shot in the chest during a gunbattle between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements, medical officials said.
The officials said the woman, Hiba Masbah, died from her wounds about an hour after she was shot in central Gaza City - where rival forces were battling in the streets.
Among those wounded in the clashes was Didier Francois, a reporter for the French daily Liberation, who sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.
Abbas, Zahar targeted Hamas and Fatah also took aim at each other's senior officials Sunday.
Hamas gunmen, angry over an apparent assassination attempt against Zahar, attacked Abbas' residence in Gaza City, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage to the building.
Zahar's convoy came under fire as it passed through Gaza City, and members of his Hamas movement accused Fatah of trying to assassinate him.
Zahar was unhurt in the shooting, which took place as he was traveling near the Foreign Ministry. Hamas officials said there were no other injuries.
"It appears the target was Dr. Zahar," said Taher Nunu, a spokesman for the foreign minister. "The attempt to assassinate Zahar has failed and he is safe and he was not harmed in the shooting."
Also Sunday, a Palestinian teenager was lightly wounded by Hamas gunfire after he threw rocks at a Hamas vehicle, security officials said.
Hamas officials said they didn't shoot the boy.
The attack on his Force 17 guard came as Abbas met with officials from the Palestinian Central Election Commission, in a first step toward holding early elections for PA chairman and the Palestinian legislature.
The Sunday attack on Force 17 was the first of its kind against the elite U.S.-backed Palestinian force, made up of about 3,500 security men.
Tensions were high in the Gaza Strip with Hamas accusing Abbas of launching a coup after he announced a plan for early elections in an attempt to break a political deadlock and have crippling international sanctions lifted.
The assault came several days after Hamas accused a top Abbas ally, Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, of being behind a shooting attack on the entourage of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
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