Hamas launches new Gaza attacks
Militants of the Palestinian group Hamas have begun to attack positions of rival faction Fatah in Gaza as levels of violence reach a new intensity.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters began moving on Fatah posts after giving their occupants two hours to leave.
Fatah leaders will meet later to decide whether to leave the three-month-old unity government they formed with Hamas in an effort to end factional fighting.
Some 16 people have been killed on the streets of Gaza in the past 24 hours.
The residences of both Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's leader and the Palestinian Authority president, and of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, have been targeted with gun and shell fire.
Witnesses said it was the worst fighting they had experienced in Gaza during 18 months of internal strife.
"Since early morning we have heard explosions and shooting. We can't go and buy any food, we can't stand in front of the windows, all our children are in one bedroom," said Gaza City resident Adnan.
Ransacked
A statement issued from Hamas-operated mosques had given Fatah fighters until 1100 GMT to evacuate Gaza positions.
Hamas-run radio stations said its fighters had taken control of several security positions in northern and central Gaza, and in Khan Younis in the south.
Reports said 200 Hamas fighters had surrounded about 500 Fatah men at the Gaza City headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces.
Pro-Fatah security forces attacked Hamas's al-Aqsa TV and radio stations in Gaza, and reportedly took control of broadcasts - playing Fatah songs instead of the usual broadcasting schedule.
Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told Associated Press news agency that Hamas militants had ransacked his home in Beit Lahiya.
A cousin of Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a Hamas leader killed by Israeli forces in 2004, was reportedly kidnapped and killed by Fatah gunmen.
Mr Abbas accused some Hamas figures of "planning a coup" against legitimate institutions". He urged an immediate ceasefire and talks to end the bloodletting.
A spokesman for Fatah said it would meet at 2000 (1700 GMT) to decide the future of the unity government.
There have been a number of ceasefires in the last month but all have been short-lived.
'No interest in talks'
The BBC's Tim Franks, in Jerusalem, says that inside Gaza most people are now staying indoors listening to the violence rage outside.
The fighting has been intense and brutal with few places considered to be safe and with hospitals becoming battlegrounds, he says.
In one incident, a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Fatah, was shot 41 times while in a hospital bed in the town of Beit Hanoun.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "deeply disturbed by the events in Gaza over the last two days, particularly the attacks in and around two hospitals in the northern part of the Gaza Strip".
Frustrated Egyptian mediators said the rival factions appeared uninterested in talks.
The head of the mediation team, Lt Col Burhan Hamad, said: "It seems they don't want to come. We must make them ashamed of themselves. They have killed all hope. They have killed the future."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6744713.stm
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