Gaza 'faction feuding' toll rises

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6076130.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A Palestinian security officer has been killed in the Gaza Strip, in what appears to be part of ongoing violence between the Fatah and Hamas factions.

Officials said the officer served in a unit traditionally loyal to the Fatah faction. Earlier on Sunday, a Fatah militant was killed in a gun battle.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, leader of Hamas, has called for national unity.

Meanwhile, Palestinian police have been blocking streets in protest at not being paid by the Hamas-led government.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay municipal salaries since it came to power in March.

It has felt the squeeze of a financial boycott imposed on the Palestinian government by international donors, including the US and European Union, over Hamas's refusal to recognise the Jewish state or to renounce violence.

A majority in the security forces are loyal to the Palestinian leader and head of the Fatah faction, Mahmoud Abbas.

Extreme tensions

Addressing a crowd of thousands in Gaza City, Mr Haniya appealed for Palestinians to end their factional feuding and unite.

Palestinian security officers blocked several roads in Gaza City

He also urged them to be patient in the face of continuing economic hardship, in a speech at the start of the Eid al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says the extreme tensions that have always existed between Fatah and Hamas have reached new levels since Hamas came to power.

The embargo has made the already dire economic situation considerably worse, which in turn has stoked the political tension still further, our correspondent says.

Fatah officials blamed Hamas for Sunday's killings - the latest in the current stand-off between the two Palestinian rivals that has left about 20 dead.

In the first incident, gunmen shot dead Mohammed Shahadeh, a leader of the Fatah militant group the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, during a clash at the Bureij refugee camp.