Palestinian security forces on Thursday said they discovered a
tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip used by Hamas for planning to carry out against leaders of the rival Fatah movement.

The discovery came days after Fatah officials accused Hamas of digging a network of tunnels under homes of Fatah members and strategic roads used by senior Fatah officials, including Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as part of a plot to assassinate them.

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Hamas had angrily denied the allegations, which added to the heightened tensions with Fatah. More than 30 people have died in factional violence over the past six weeks, though there has been a lull in fighting in recent days.

Members of the pro-Fatah Preventive Security force said the tunnel was found after part of a road collapsed under the weight of a truck. A bulldozer quickly arrived at the site and filled the hole with sand.

Only the hole in the main road stretching along the strip was visible. But no proof was provided for the tunnel.

Hamas members denied knowledge of the tunnel, but Abu Obeida, spokesman for the group's military wing, said it has built tunnels to help defend against attacks by Israel.

But a security official said the tunnel was not in an area that would be used to attack Israelis.