The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam yesterday used the term Black Sunday for the violence in Gaza between Fatah and Hamas that left nine Palestinians dead and more than 100 injured. It was not yet civil war but it was close to it.

Yesterday things calmed down, and everyone called for a resumption of negotiations to set up a national unity government. But it is doubtful whether the sides are capable of overcoming their differences, and hostilities may erupt again soon.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas accused the Hamas leadership on Sunday of reneging, after only 24 hours, on its agreement to a unity government platform. In an interview to Al Jazeera television in Amman, Abbas blasted Hamas, and especially Khaled Meshal, for demanding to amend the Arab peace initiative, which includes recognition of Israel and normalization in exchange for complete withdrawal.

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Abbas hinted that he was authorized to disperse the Hamas government but said he was not about to discuss that. He said that he rejected Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar's statement that setting up a government of experts was a recipe for civil war.

Abbas demanded the release of Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sadat, secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, among the POWs to be released by Israel in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Abbas has raised this demand twice recently, contrary to previous reports asserting that the Egyptian mediators had reached a draft agreement excluding Barghouti and Sadat, whose release Israel vehemently opposes.

Abbas raised this unexpected demand apparently due to his anger at Meshal's attempts to thwart the prisoner exchange deal. The exchange of Shalit for Palestinian prisoners is part of the agreement to set up a Palestinian unity government, and Abbas is determined to sabotage any exchange deal that credits Hamas with the prisoner exchange.

The recent conflict was triggered off by Fatah people, who stepped up their protests last weekend, especially in Gaza City, after seven months of civil servants' not receiving wages in an orderly way. After Fatah policemen and activists protested on the streets, causing damage to government property, Hamas reacted violently to what Internal Affairs Minister Said Siam described as a "rebellion attempt."

Following the fatalities and casualties, Fatah brought its people into the streets in the West Bank, vandalizing offices of Hamas ministers and the Prime Minister's Office in Ramallah.

The hostilities were allayed yesterday following a long telephone call between Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas-led government. Abbas and Haniyeh now have a very brief window of opportunity to craft a national unity government.

This is the only arrangement that could regain universal legitimacy for a Palestinian government and free up the financial aid it has been pledged.