January 27, 2007	Saturday	Muharram 07, 1428

GAZA, Jan 26: Rival Palestinian factions clashed in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing 14 people and wounding 20 in a wave of bombing and shootings, and a Fatah-linked militant group said it had captured 24 Hamas hostages.

The death toll is the highest in internal Palestinian violence in a single spurt of violence since Hamas's rise to power exactly a year ago.

Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said it seized the Hamas supporters in Gaza and the West Bank and threatened a “severe response” if Hamas gunmen hurt a senior Fatah militant besieged in Gaza.

Residents said gunfire echoed across Gaza late on Friday and both Hamas and Fatah forces deployed on the streets. Two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at Fatah's Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City.

The mounting violence forced the postponement of talks to form a coalition government which could ease a US-led boycott imposed after Hamas won Palestinian elections last January.

“The entire dialogue could explode,” Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, blaming Hamas for the violence. “How can dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?” The talks were put off to Sunday from Friday.

Eight Hamas supporters, including a local leader, a militant from Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, another whose identity or allegiance was unclear and two bystanders were killed in violence which began with a bombing on Thursday night.

Hamas vowed revenge for the killing of their members and of the leader named Zuhair al-Mansi which a spokesman described as a “grave crime”. He said there would be no mercy for the killers.

“There can be no dialogue with the killers. We will not stand handcuffed and there will be no mercy,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

The fighting coincided with a rally by thousands of Hamas supporters to mark the first anniversary of the Islamist group's election victory over the once-dominant Fatah last year.

In Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas gunmen besieged and later stormed the house of senior Fatah militant Mansour Shalayel, who they accused of shooting a Hamas supporter earlier on Friday.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades paraded a group of youths it had captured and threatened tough reprisals if Shalayel was hurt. One of the detainees read from a prepared statement:

“We, the sons of Hamas in Nablus, ask the (Hamas) executive force in Gaza to withdraw from the streets of Gaza and not to kill Fatah members in Gaza, because our lives are threatened.” But a Hamas security source said the group's gunmen would not withdraw from Shalayel's house.

PALESTINIAN INFIGHTING: Around 40 Palestinians have been killed in fighting between rival groups since President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called last month for presidential and parliamentary elections after a previous round of unity talks broke down.

Hamas has said any snap poll would amount to a coup. But it has struggled to govern since taking office in March under the weight of sanctions imposed because of its refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals.

Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal pledged on Sunday to curb Palestinian bloodshed after inconclusive talks to end their power struggle and form a unity government.

—Reuters