Interfactional violence continued throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Wednesday for the third day in a row since talks of forming a Palestinian unity government broke down.

In the West Bank town of Qalqilyah, three masked men shot and killed a Hamas leader as he left a mosque, witnesses said, a day after a rival Palestinian faction threatened to kill senior Hamas members.

The gunmen jumped out of a passing vehicle and shot Mohammed Odeh, 37, as he left the mosque after dawn prayers in Hableh, a village near , northwest of Ramallah, and then sped off, the witnesses said.

	Advertisement

Odeh, described as a local leader of Hamas, the Islamic militant movement that heads the Palestinian government, died on the way hospital, ambulance workers said.

Witnesses said the gunmen drove away in an Israeli-licensed vehicle; however, the IDF has denied involvement in the shooting.

Meanwhile in Gaza, masked gunmen stormed two cell phone transmitting stations, opening fire and disrupting cellular phone coverage.

The gunmen first broke into the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian cell phone company, Jawal, and opened fire. They did not identify themselves and did not make any demands. No one was injured and no serious damage was caused.

Shortly after, gunmen attacked Jawal facilities in the Jabaliya refugee camp, opening fire inside the small building housing transmission equipment, then torching a transmitter and antenna.

Hamas militiamen arrested one of the gunmen, but the others escaped. The gunmen did not state their motives.

Jawal said in a statement that the two stations would be shut down for
repairs.