Hamas, Fatah intensify clashes

TEL AVIV -- Armed clashes intensified between rival Palestinian factions yesterday as Hamas accused Fatah fighters loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of fomenting civil war and trying to assassinate Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at a Gaza border station Thursday night.

The latest violence threatened to undermine months of talks on a unity government between the Islamist Hamas party and Mr. Abbas' once-dominant Fatah to end a deadly power struggle within the Palestinian territories.

Security officers and Fatah militia men fired into a crowd of demonstrators carrying green Hamas banners through central Ramallah yesterday, wounding at least 31.

"What a war, Mahmoud Abbas, you are launching, first against God, and then against Hamas," said Hamas' parliamentary faction leader Khalil al-Hayya before a crowd of 100,000 Hamas supporters gathered at a Gaza rally.