GAZA, May 8: Three gunmen were killed on Monday when fighting between Fatah forces backing President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists erupted in the Gaza Strip, in the most serious Palestinian internal strife since Hamas came to power.

The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend.

Abbas and Haniyeh are embroiled in a power struggle over control of the security forces that has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war between the feuding factions.

The Gaza clashes began overnight when, according to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Fatah security men ‘kidnapped’ three members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades.

Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where the men were being held and captured four Fatah men, Abu Zuhri said.

A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash.

At least 11 people, including a 16-year-old youth, were wounded.—Reuters