Senior offficials from rival Fatah and Hamas factions agreed today to implement immediately a ceasefire aimed at stopping Palestinian violence in Gaza, Interior Minister Saeed Seyam of Hamas said.
Speaking after talks with Fatah security official Rashid Abu Shbak, Mr Seyam said the two sides agreed to withdraw their gunmen from Gaza streets and rooftops, remove checkpoints, and halt media incitement. Successive previous ceasefire deals have broken down in renewed fighting
Palestinian factions clashed in Gaza today, before the ceasefire agreement filtered through to the streets. Five people were wounded in fierce gunfire near two universities following the death of 17 people yesterday.
The fighting between Hamas and Fatah gunmen followed the call by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah last month for early elections, a step the governing Islamist Hamas movement condemned as a coup.
Schools and shops were closed in Gaza City and residents near the pro-Hamas Islamic University and neighbouring Al-Azhar University, a Fatah bastion, hid in the inner rooms of their homes to escape gunfire.
The five people wounded in today's shooting near the universities included three civilians. Fatah and Hamas accused each other of firing rocket-propelled grenades.
Following talks by phone last night between Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal and Mr Abbas, the two sides agreed to attempt another ceasefire and to withdraw their gunmen from the streets, a senior Fatah leader said.
Officials met this afternoon to hammer out a fuller deal.
Hamas took control of the Palestinian government in March after beating Fatah in an election. Facing US-led sanctions because of its refusal to formally recognise Israel, renounce violence and commit to existing peace accords, Hamas has struggled to govern but says holding another election would amount to a coup.
At least 23 Palestinians have been killed and more than 200 wounded since the latest ceasefire broke down on Thursday when Hamas fighters ambushed what they said was a convoy carrying military equipment to Mr Abbas's forces.