Hamas-Fatah violence kills 20

[Nemesis6]

GAZA CITY (AP) -- Gaza was turning into a battlefield early Monday with armed clashes between the ruling Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah in Gaza City and the south. Four people were killed in the latest day of battles.

A Hamas supporter another gunman and a civilian were killed in clashes in southern Gaza on Sunday.

Early Monday Fatah gunmen killed a member of the Hamas security force in Gaza City, bringing the death toll in four days of Hamas-Fatah fighting to 29.

Early Monday, Hamas fighters mobilized around the main Fatah stronghold, the Preventive Security headquarters, and threatened to attack the compound -- a move that could set off a full-scale civil war.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia offered to mediate between the rivals, locked in a power struggle since Hamas defeated Fatah in parliamentary elections a year ago, ending four decades of Fatah rule.

The tensions have frequently erupted into violence, particularly since coalition talks broke down in December and Fatah's leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, threatened to call early elections. (Read full story)

In all, more than 60 Palestinians have been killed in internal fighting since December.

Sunday's violence began with a blast at the home of a bodyguard to Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan.

The guard was not in the building, and no casualties were reported.

Other clashes took place near security installations in Gaza City, and several Hamas loyalists were abducted in northern Gaza, Hamas officials said.

The violence also spread to the West Bank, where about 15 Fatah gunmen stormed into a West Bank bank and snatched a local Hamas leader, witnesses said. ( Watch Fatah gunmen abduct a Hamas official Video)

There has been a rash of kidnappings throughout the fighting. In all previous cases, the hostages have been released unharmed relatively quickly.

Among the incidents Sunday, two senior officers of a Fatah-linked security force were abducted and held for an hour before they were released.

Gunmen opened fire on a police station in northern Gaza after sundown, wounding a police officer, security officials said.

Also, they said, an intelligence officer and his bodyguard from Fatah were kidnapped.

In the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, a Hamas gunman was shot dead in a drive-by shooting after nightfall, Hamas officials said.

A second gunmen was killed later, hospital officials said. His affiliation was not immediately known. As the armed clash continued, a 45-year-old civilian was killed, hospital officials said.

After nightfall in Gaza City, Hamas gunmen kidnapped the son and nephew of a Preventive Security commander, Khamis Ajouz, from his house, he said.

Ajouz told The Associated Press that they would be killed if his forces were not removed from the streets.

"This is an awful crime when they abuse kids in this confrontation," he said in a telephone interview.

Hamas denied involvement in the kidnapping, calling it "propaganda."

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said the Islamic group was in talks with Egyptian mediators in hopes of forging a truce.

Saudi Arabia also offered to mediate, said Taher Nunu, a spokesman for Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas.

Abbas welcomed the Saudi offer to host truce talks, Palestinian TV reported.

Fatah official Ahmed Qureia, a former prime minister, praised the Saudi invitation. "We consider this initiative as a generous invitation that must receive all the support and approval of all the parties," he told The Associated Press.

At an emergency session of Cabinet, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called on gunmen to put their weapons away, and appealed to Abbas to pull his armed men from the streets.

Abbas said last week he would move forward with his election plan if the coalition talks did not produce results three weeks.

Hamas opposes a new vote, calling it a "coup attempt."

Let's turn the money faucets back on and give them a state. Problem is, is the state gonna be Jumhuriye al-Fatahiya or Hamastan? I can't say this is a bad thing. As long as they keep fighting each other, the world will keep looking at the Islamist kintergarden that is Palestine. I think Palestinian governance is summed up pretty well in this cartoon - http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/06.01.26.Thugocracy-X.gif