American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to underline the United States' support for him and his allies in the fighting between his Fatah party and the rival Hamas raging in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the call essentially was to "talk to him about the current situation, the situation as he saw it, and to underline the United States' support for Abbas, for the Palestinian moderates who have made the commitment to working with the Israeli government and working with countries around the world on the issue of peace in the Middle East."

He said their choice to work toward peace has been challenged by those individuals in Gaza who have attacked the legitimate security forces of the Palestinian Authority, who have, in a premeditated way, decided that they are going to try to extinguish the hopes of the Palestinian people for their own state.

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Meanwhile, the White House on Thursday expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip and accused Hamas of committing "acts of terror" against the Palestinian people.

A Hamas victory in factional fighting in Gaza would deal a blow to a United States peace push founded on the premise that the Western-backed Abbas would be capable of reining in militants and Israel would embrace him as a partner.

"This is a source of profound concern," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters when asked about conditions in Gaza after Hamas fighters captured one of the last Gaza City bastions of forces loyal to Abbas and his Fatah faction.

"Hamas has demonstrated its own view of democracy by once again committing acts of terror, now against the Palestinian people," he said.

Hamas, which won a Palestinian parliamentary election last year, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

Washington has led efforts to isolate the Hamas-dominated government, demanding that it renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and abide by existing agreements with the Jewish state.

"We think that it's important that the violence cease and that democracy, real democracy, get a chance to succeed in the Palestinian areas," Snow said.

"The Palestinian people have been afflicted by violence and want for far too long, so we are keeping very close watch," he added.

The head of the Arab league on Thursday warned of a disastrous outcome if the bloody infighting between the rival Palestinian Hamas and Fatah sides continues and urged and immediate cease fire.

"I call for a cease fire immediately," Amr Moussa said in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Moussa spoke after an urgent meeting with Jibril al-Rajoub, Abbas' senior security adviser.

Moussa urged the Palestinian factions embroiled in what looks increasingly like a civil war in the Gaza Strip to cooperate more with an Egyptian team of mediators.

If those efforts are not supported by the different Palestinian factions fighting, the outcome will be a disaster, Moussa warned. Moussa also said that the Arab states were extremely displeased at the Palestinian clashes which he described as unacceptable.

The Arab League was preparing for holding an urgent Arab foreign ministers meeting on Friday to discuss the deteriorated security situation in the Palestinian territories, Moussa said.

Al-Rajoub said what is needed now was a constructive unified Arab stance to rescue the Palestinians from this destruction.

He warned that if the fighting isn't halted it would make all the Palestinians losers.

Hamas on Thursday overran the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the second of the strip's four main towns to fall into the Islamic militants' hands. Abbas for the first time in five days of fierce fighting, ordered his elite presidential guard to strike back, but his forces were crumbling fast under the onslaught by the better-armed and better-disciplined Islamic fighters.

A Hamas military victory in Gaza would split Palestinian territory into two, with the Islamic extremists controlling the coastal strip and Western-backed Fatah ruling the West Bank.


EU commission suspends Gaza humanitarian aid projects
The European Commission on Thursday suspended its humanitarian aid projects in the Gaza Strip, citing the escalating sectarian violence.

"I fervently hope that the projects can resume very soon," said EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel.

EU humanitarian operations in both Gaza and the West Bank totaled $110 million last year. So far this year, it has earmarked euro60 million $80 million.

On Thursday, violence continued unabated, with Hamas fighters overrunning one of the rival Fatah movement's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and executed them in the street.

Some 80 people, most of them militants, have been killed since a spike in violence Sunday sent Gaza into civil war. At least 15 people died on Thursday.

"This is a time when people desperately need protection and support. The warring parties must respect the principles of international humanitarian law," said Michel.

Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, monitored by an EU mission since November 2005, has been closed since June 9 due to security concerns, an official said.

"I can't tell you when the border will next be open. Since 2005 we have been open only 20 percent of the time," Maria Telleria, spokeswoman for the EU mission, said in a telephone interview.

"The situation is quite difficult. At this moment we're on standby," she said.

The mission monitors, verifies and evaluates the Palestinian Authority's border guards at the Rafah passenger terminal, which opened after Israel's 2005 pullout from Gaza to reassure an apprehensive Israel that Palestinian inspectors would prevent the smuggling of weapons and militants.

Results, however, have been mixed, amid frequent closings forced by Israel due to security concerns. Although the Palestinians run the crossing, Israel still has final say over whether it operates.

Telleria said the EU mission has been under pressure in the last year from Israel.

Despite the escalating violence, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called on the Palestinians to stick with a national unity government.

"Now is not the time to give up on national unity, both in the government and in the security sector," she said. "I call on both Hamas and Fatah to invest all their energy in this coalition."

European officials urge calm in Gaza

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Wednesday denounced fighting between the rival Palestinian factions as "senseless," and said Britain was continuing to press for the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza City three months ago.

In a statement released late Wednesday, Beckett called the fighting a "tragedy" and said she would be speaking to Abbas, as well as the governments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to explore ways to resolve the crisis.

"This fighting is a tragedy. It puts civilians at risk... It makes it harder for the international community to extend assistance to the people," she said.

Beckett said she would appeal to Abbas to ensure that "cool heads prevail" in the conflict.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Thursday for the warring factions to end their conflict.

"The events of the last days have really effected us," Merkel told the German Parliament and said that Hamas and Fatah needed to end their violence immediately.

Merkel spoke by telephone to both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Abbas on Wednesday evening.

In her telephone call with Abbas, Merkel gave her support to the efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in Gaza, said German government spokesmen Ulrich William in Berlin.

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