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Palestinian PM appeals for calm Rivals bid to revive Gaza truce
(about 3 hours later)
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has appealed for calm after fresh fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza, despite a renewed truce. Rival Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have agreed to resume a ceasefire that had collapsed soon after it was first declared on Friday.
Mr Haniya, of Hamas, called for an immediate ceasefire and for gunmen to withdraw from the streets. Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam said the governing Hamas movement and the Fatah faction again promised to remove their forces from the streets.
At least eight people were wounded in the latest clashes, although some calm has been restored. More than 20 people have been killed and 100 wounded in recent days.
Two truces since Tuesday have failed to take hold, as the two sides remain locked in a violent power struggle. The latest fighting came despite two ceasefires agreed since Tuesday, aimed at ending a bitter power struggle.
Some 22 people have died since a resurgence of violence on Thursday. But on Saturday Mr Seyam told reporters he and Rashid Abu Shbak of Fatah agreed "an immediate ceasefire, removing gunmen from the streets and rooftops of buildings and removing all the checkpoints".
Makeshift barricades However the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza said a very similar plan was declared on Friday but failed to halt the violence.
Representatives from Hamas and Fatah met on Saturday to try to agree on how to enforce a ceasefire. After Mr Seyam spoke, gunfire continued to echo through the streets around him, our correspondent adds.
Fatah spokesman Abdel-Hakim Awad said the talks would "lay the mechanism to remove the gunmen and checkpoints from the streets and allow Palestinian police forces to carry out their job," Reuters news agency reported. Bloodshed
class="" href="/1/hi/talking_point/6323923.stm">Gaza viewpoint class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6324677.stm">Factions locked in struggle Speaking from his home in Gaza's al-Shati refugee camp, Prime Minister Haniya called for an end to the violence. Earlier Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas and Fatah leaders appealed for calm.
"I renew my call to all our people for an immediate ceasefire and for the gunmen to withdraw from the streets and for the security services to return to their bases," he told journalists, AFP news agency reported. The calls followed hours of violence which shattered the truce declared on Friday.
The calls for calm followed hours of violence which shattered a truce declared on Friday. class="" href="/1/hi/talking_point/6323923.stm">Gaza viewpoint class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6324677.stm">Factions locked in struggle
The BBC's Alan Johnson in Gaza says the people of Gaza City woke again to the sound of gunfire on Saturday, and for a short period there were intense clashes in the centre of town. There were fierce exchanges of machine gun and heavier fire in the central area around the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold.
They died away as the morning wore on, he says, but then by mid-afternoon there were more exchanges for a time, our correspondent says.
He says those Palestinians who venture out find makeshift barricades on many roads around the main bases of the forces allied to the Fatah Party.
These checkpoints are manned by armed men wearing black ski masks who seem suspicious of almost every car, our correspondent adds.
Tense time
There have been some fierce exchanges of machine gun and heavier fire in the central area around the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold.
University workers ran for cover as Hamas and Fatah gunmen traded fire from the rooftops of nearby buildings, the Associated Press news agency reported.University workers ran for cover as Hamas and Fatah gunmen traded fire from the rooftops of nearby buildings, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The situation in areas outside Gaza City is reported to be much calmer, with schools reopening in the south, our correspondent says. About 60 people have been killed since 25 January, in the deadliest factional unrest in recent months in Gaza.
The recent clashes between Hamas and Fatah were the most intense seen during months of factional unrest in Gaza. Reports say Palestinian Authority President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal will meet in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday to try to end the fighting.
And reports say Palestinian Authority President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal will meet in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday to try to end the fighting. This would be a second meeting for the two leaders after a summit in Damascus on 21 January ended without a breakthrough.
Hamas and Fatah have been trying to form a unity government for months.Hamas and Fatah have been trying to form a unity government for months.
They are deadlocked over Hamas' rejection of international calls for it to recognise Israel.They are deadlocked over Hamas' rejection of international calls for it to recognise Israel.
Western donors have been withholding direct aid, resulting in a deep economic crisis in the Palestinian territories.Western donors have been withholding direct aid, resulting in a deep economic crisis in the Palestinian territories.