Fatah pulls back from unity gov't

Fatah ministers are suspending their participation in a unity government with Hamas until the fighting in Gaza - which killed 25 combatants and civilians across the Strip yesterday - comes to a halt, the Fatah Central Committee decided in an emergency meeting yesterday.

The decision does not constitute a final withdrawal from the coalition, but means the Fatah ministers will suspend their government activities until a cease-fire is reached, said Fatah-affiliated government spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh. Rudeineh added that the movement decided on a full withdrawal if the fighting doesn't stop.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for an end to the fighting, and an immediate resumption of negotiations between his Hamas movement and the rival Fatah faction.

"He urges restraint and an end to this chapter of conflict, an immediate return to the negotiating table and an end to sedition," said an official in Haniyeh's office, reading from a statement.

He also accused Fatah of not believing in political partnership, and of seeking to disrupt Palestinian society.

Earlier, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called for an immediate end to the fighting between his Fatah movement and rival Hamas, saying it went against Palestinian "interests."

"In order to protect the higher national interests of our people, and to try stop the bloodshed, I, in my position as the head of the Palestinian Authority and the head of all security forces, call for an immediate halt to fire," Abbas said in a statement. The fighting, which erupted Monday morning after days of simmering tensions, has claimed 36 lives so far.

Yesterday afternoon, Hamas gunmen launched an attack on the headquarters of Fatah-allied security forces across the Gaza Strip. At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded as Hamas captured the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in northern Gaza, seizing a key prize in the bloody battle for control of Gaza. Six Hamas men were killed in northern Gaza, and nine other Palestinians were killed throughout the day, bringing the day's death toll to 25. Since the latest round of violence broke out Monday, 36 Palestinians have been killed.

Yesterday morning, gunmen attacked the home of Haniyeh in a refugee camp near Gaza City, for the second time in as many days. Hamas branded the assault with a rocket-propelled grenade an assassination attempt. Haniyeh and his family were in the house, but unhurt.

A Fatah man who survived the assault on the northern security said the Fatah forces were outgunned, and that reinforcements never arrived. "We were pounded with mortar, mortar, mortar," said the gunman, who only gave his first name, Amjad. "They had no mercy. It was boom, boom. They had rockets that could reach almost half of the compound."

Forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas were ordered last night to defend their positions in the Gaza Strip, and counter a "coup" by rival Hamas Islamists.