GAZA CITY, Dec 21: A fragile ceasefire aimed at halting a surge of fighting between rival Palestinian factions held in the Gaza Strip for a second day on Thursday after president Mahmud Abbas urged restraint on all sides.
No clashes between Abbas's Fatah party and the ruling Hamas movement have been reported since early Wednesday, when a four-hour gunbattle in southern Gaza City killed two Fatah loyalists hours after a new truce went into effect.
Gaza City residents went about their daily routine, though armed gunmen, some of them masked, continued to patrol the streets.
At a press conference in Ramallah late Wednesday, Mr Abbas pleaded for an end to factional fighting in the streets.
“I call on Palestinians from all political factions to show responsibility and restraint,” Mr Abbas said.
“I am confident that they all want to see security restored and the law respected so that we can realize our goals of liberation and independence.” The Palestinian leader said that he was “not opposed to a new round of dialogue” on forming a government of national unity with Hamas, despite his call on Saturday for early elections.
The call for new polls was roundly rejected by Hamas and sparked four days of gunbattles between supporters of the ruling Islamists and Abbas's Fatah faction in Gaza, clashes that killed 13 people and wounded dozens of others.
After appealing for calm to end one of the worst crises in the Palestinian territories in decades, both Abbas and prime minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas announced a new ceasefire late Tuesday.
A previous truce between the factions agreed late Sunday held for barely 24 hours, with six people killed in factional fighting in Gaza on Tuesday alone.
Abbas said the new truce had been hammered out after contacts with “friendly countries and friendly leaders,” such as Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Officials in Amman had announced the king had phoned Abbas and offered to host a meeting between himself and the Hamas premier to defuse the crisis.—AFP
