Hamas vs Fatah Bloodshed Continues

[Christina]

Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought in Gaza City's beachfront neighborhoods and around security compounds early Sunday, ignoring renewed truce appeals and Arab mediation efforts. One man was killed, raising the death toll from three days of fighting to 26. Bursts of gunfire alternated with periods of calm, and in areas of Gaza City not affected by the fighting, people tried to go about their lives. Boys played soccer in the streets, horse-drawn carts maneuvered through alleys and shoppers stocked up on supplies for the next round of battle. Nasser Mushtaha, who owns a high-rise near President Mahmoud Abbas' compound, said members of Abbas' Presidential Guard were posted on his roof and at the entrance to the building. He said he received phone calls from Hamas members, who warned they would blow up the building unless the troops left. But some of the guardsmen refused. Mushtaha complained about his building being used as an outpost. "Who will protect us? What is our fault? We are neither Fatah nor Hamas," he said Saturday, adding that dozens of windows had already been shattered by bullets. In the Sheik Radwan neighborhood, Ali Ustaz used a lull to buy a battery-powered radio so he could follow developments despite frequent power cuts. "There is no hope for a solution," Ustaz said, referring to an elusive power-sharing deal between Abbas, the Fatah leader, and the Islamic militant Hamas, the two factions grappling for control of the Palestinian government. Abbas and Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, are to meet Tuesday in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia for a reconciliation hosted by Saudi King Abdullah. The highest-profile mediation effort in several weeks of fighting is increasing pressure on both sides to end their power struggle and form a coalition government. In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the stalled Mideast peace process depended on resolving the conflict between rival Palestinian factions as well as the release of the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants in June. Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mubarak said Egypt was working to "seal the crack" between Hamas and Fatah. An Abbas aide said the Palestinian president is prepared to stay up to three days in Mecca, accompanied by a large delegation. Abbas' advisers could continue negotiations after he leaves. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, also said he expected talks to go on for several days. "There are big obstacles to overcome in this dialogue. It will not be a minute or an hour," he said. Control over the security forces and the wording of a new government program are the main sticking points. Abbas wants a Hamas commitment in writing to agreements reached by the PLO, including peace deals with Israel. An especially bloody round of fighting -- 26 killed and more than 230 wounded since Thursday -- has deepened resentment on both sides. Stepping up provocations, gunmen have attacked their rivals' strongholds, such as the Hamas-dominated Islamic university and Abbas' presidential compound. Gunfire shook one beachside neighborhood for more than half an hour after nightfall, as Hamas gunmen fought a local clan allied with Abbas' security forces. The fighting continued early Sunday, with battles in nearly a dozen locations, including the headquarters of Abbas' Preventive Security in Gaza City. Hamas forces attacked the national security headquarters in Gaza City late Saturday, killing one officer. They also targeted a base of the Preventive Security in northern Gaza for the second time in two days, ransacking the building and burning tires there. Hamas also fired mortars at a Presidential Guard training base and at Abbas' nearby compound. Hamas forces have attacked more than a dozen installation of forces loyal to Abbas over the past three days. Earlier Saturday, Hamas threatened on its Al Aqsa radio station to attack several high-rise buildings unless residents force Abbas-allied snipers from rooftop positions. A few people left, but most decided to stay put, saying they had nowhere to go.