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Gaza factions told to end clashes | Gaza factions told to end clashes |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and PM Ismail Haniya have agreed to urge armed men from their rival Fatah and Hamas factions to leave Gaza's streets. | Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and PM Ismail Haniya have agreed to urge armed men from their rival Fatah and Hamas factions to leave Gaza's streets. |
Mr Haniya said they would appeal for calm and a return to negotiations on forming a government of national unity. | Mr Haniya said they would appeal for calm and a return to negotiations on forming a government of national unity. |
The meeting between the two men, the first in two months, followed renewed factional bloodshed in northern Gaza. | |
Meanwhile, Israeli troops carried out further raids in the West Bank, a day a after deadly incursion into Ramallah. | |
Reports said troops had entered the village of Attil, near Tulkarm, and detained two militants. | |
In the city of Nablus, Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen. Palestinian sources said three members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militant group had been injured. | |
Inquiry ordered | Inquiry ordered |
Mr Haniya cut short a trip abroad to meet Mr Abbas in Gaza City. | Mr Haniya cut short a trip abroad to meet Mr Abbas in Gaza City. |
"We have decided to appeal for calm and for the withdrawal of all the armed men from the streets, and to continue the dialogue," he told journalists after the meeting. | "We have decided to appeal for calm and for the withdrawal of all the armed men from the streets, and to continue the dialogue," he told journalists after the meeting. |
Mr Haniya added that he had decided to set up an inquiry into the recent inter-Palestinian clashes. | Mr Haniya added that he had decided to set up an inquiry into the recent inter-Palestinian clashes. |
Mr Abbas did not make a public statement after the talks. | Mr Abbas did not make a public statement after the talks. |
Separately, Reuters news agency reported that the US administration was planning to provide security forces loyal to Mr Abbas with $86.4m. | |
The agency quoted a US government document saying that the money would "assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling PA commitments... to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order". | |
Dramatic killing | |
The Abbas-Haniya meeting took place after a very senior figure in a security service linked to Fatah, Col Mohammed Ghayeb, was killed when gunmen attacked his home, Fatah officials said. | |
They are targeting the house. For God's sake, send an ambulance Col Mohammed Ghayeb Four of his bodyguards also died, and his wife was wounded. | |
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says there are reports the Hamas men may have blamed the bodyguards for the death of one of their comrades in an earlier clash. | The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says there are reports the Hamas men may have blamed the bodyguards for the death of one of their comrades in an earlier clash. |
Col Ghayeb was heard pleading for help in a phone call broadcast by Palestine TV, Associated Press reported. | |
"They are killers. They are targeting the house, children... are bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance, we want an ambulance, somebody move," he was heard saying. | |
A member of a security force set up by Hamas was also shot dead in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. | A member of a security force set up by Hamas was also shot dead in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. |
On Wednesday, five people died in factional fighting, including a 21-year-old woman who was hit by a stray bullet. | On Wednesday, five people died in factional fighting, including a 21-year-old woman who was hit by a stray bullet. |
Relations between the two parties have always been bad, our correspondent says, but they have worsened significantly in recent months as political differences have deepened. | Relations between the two parties have always been bad, our correspondent says, but they have worsened significantly in recent months as political differences have deepened. |
Fatah advocates negotiations to found a state alongside Israel while Hamas refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist. | Fatah advocates negotiations to found a state alongside Israel while Hamas refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist. |