Shots fired at Palestinian leader's home [video report link]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Fighting between the ruling Hamas movement and its Fatah rivals escalated Sunday, with an attack launched on the foreign minister's convoy followed by shots fired at the Palestinian president's Gaza residence in apparent retaliation, witnesses said.

Neither President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah _ who was not in his Gaza residence at the time of the shooting _ or high-ranking Hamas member Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar were injured.

The shots fired at Abbas' residence apparently came in retaliation for an attack on Zahar's convoy earlier Sunday, which Hamas supporters called an assassination attempt. "It appears the target was Dr. Zahar," said Taher Nunu, a spokesman for Zahar.

Exchanges of gunfire between Hamas and Fatah loyalists continued to rage in the streets of Gaza City, adding to the rising tensions between the factions. Medical officials said six people were wounded.

The shootings occurred just hours after a member of the pro-Fatah presidential guard was killed in an early morning ambush. As the security man's funeral procession passed through Gaza City, Fatah supporters fired automatic weapons angrily into the air. Hamas militiamen briefly opened fire in response.

Medical officials said one person was wounded, and Fatah and Hamas forces poured into the area in anticipation of further violence.