GAZA CITY, Jan 29: Sporadic gunbattles between rival Hamas and Fatah factions raged across Gaza again on Monday despite a Saudi offer to mediate an end to the worst internecine violence in a year that has killed 33 people.

Two officers in the mainstream and pro-Fatah security apparatus, a Hamas militant and a civilian died on Monday, the latest casualties in four days of bitter fighting in which around 100 people have also been wounded, medics said.

The unprecedented violence, the worst since Hamas won a landslide election last January, has torpedoed on-and-off talks to broker a power-sharing agreement and sparked Arab diplomatic efforts to appease the disturbances.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, speaking publicly on the latest bout of fighting for the first time, described the troubles as “tragic” and insisted that he would not allow the territories to disintegrate into civil war.

Shooting reverberated near the headquarters of the preventive security force in the Tal al-Hawa district of southern Gaza City, while sporadic gunfire crackled through other neighbourhoods and explosions boomed into the morning.

A security officer was killed when unknown gunmen ambushed his car. Another security officer, wounded in the fighting, died of his injuries, medics said.

A civilian died from gunshot wounds, a Hamas militant was killed and in the southern town of Khan Yunis, another person was fatally wounded in clashes.

“These tragic events and internal killings stem mainly from the existence of numerous authorities,” said Mr Abbas in reference to the rivalry between his own security services and forces loyal to the Hamas government.

“We will not allow any civil war as Palestinian blood is sacred,” he added in a keynote speech at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

The warring factions have set up roadblocks and traded gun, anti-rocket and mortar fire throughout Gaza. Streets have become deserted as shop-keepers board up shops and civilians retreat to the relative safety of their homes.

The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said its director, Ibrahim Salah, escaped an “assassination attempt” in which one of his bodyguards was wounded.

The ministry blamed Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah's chief strongman in Gaza.

In a telephone conversation with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya promised that his Hamas-led government would “make maximum effort to defuse the explosive situation,” the cabinet said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country recently hosted talks between Abbas and Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal, telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss ways to end the fighting, said the SANA news agency.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah offered to hold talks in Makkah to stop what he called the “disgraceful” fighting, a proposal welcomed by Palestinian leaders on both sides.—AFP