At least three Palestinians were killed on Monday during a gun battle between members of the rival Hamas and Fatah groups in the Gaza Strip, paramedics said.
It was the most serious internal Palestinian violence since Hamas defeated the long-dominant Fatah faction in a January election and formed a government.
Paramedics said three gunmen, two from Fatah and one from Hamas, were killed in the fighting near the town of Khan Younis and several other participants in the battle were wounded.
The clash broke out after Hamas accused Fatah of having kidnapped three of its members, security officials said.
Last month, 20 people were wounded in fighting between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza after exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal condemned President Mahmoud Abbas’s veto of a new security force, formed by Hamas and led by a top resistance fighter.
Abbas met on Saturday with Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister, in a failed attempt to resolve disputes over security and end an international financial boycott threatening to bankrupt the Hamas-led government.
*this article was reprinted from aljazeera.net
