MIDDLE EAST:Fighting between rival Palestinian factions escalated across Gaza yesterday, killing at least 17 people, as Hamas overran compounds used by President Mahmoud Abbas's forces and two universities were set ablaze.
Violence erupted after the Islamist Hamas beat Fatah in a parliamentary election last year. Truces and talks on a unity coalition, which could persuade the West to restore aid it froze after the ballot, have so far failed, but peace efforts were renewed yesterday.
Residents of the narrow coastal Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, hid in their homes instead of attending Friday prayers as the rivals fought running battles with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades on the streets and from rooftops.
"Gaza is being burned down," said Arafat Abu Eyad from his smoke-filled balcony overlooking smouldering buildings.
Following a telephone call by Hamas's political leader, Khaled Meshaal, to Mr Abbas, and Egyptian-mediated talks in Gaza between Mr Abbas's Fatah group and Hamas, a senior Fatah leader said that the two sides had agreed to attempt another ceasefire and to withdraw gunmen from the streets.
"A meeting will be held on Saturday to continue laying down the mechanisms to reach out for a comprehensive calm," said Samir al-Mashhrawi.
At the urging of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, Mr Abbas and Mr Meshaal agreed to hold meetings in the holy city of Mecca to try to renew unity talks. An Abbas aide, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said that they would meet on Tuesday.
However, in a move likely to put pressure on Hamas, the president told a committee in charge of national elections to move forward with plans for presidential and parliamentary votes if talks to form a unity coalition fell through.
Mr Abbas, who in December called for new elections, did not set a deadline for his ultimatum.
Nine fighters loyal to Mr Abbas, four Hamas gunmen and four civilians, including two children, were killed yesterday in a second day of clashes in Gaza which shattered a three-day-old truce.
The latest casualties included a Fatah security officer and a civilian, hospital officials said. Unidentified gunmen also shot at the car of a Fatah official, wounding his bodyguard.
At least 23 Palestinians have been killed and more than 200 were wounded in yesterday's fighting.
The United States convened a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators in Washington yesterday, seeking to bolster support from the EU, Russia and the United Nations for its embargo of the Hamas-led government and its attempt to revive stalled peace talks through Mr Abbas.
The US has pledged $86 million to strengthen Mr Abbas's security forces. Hamas accuses Fatah of spearheading a US-backed coup against its government.
Hours after Fatah gunmen set fire to the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, explosions and fire ripped through the nearby campus of al-Quds University, a Fatah bastion. Hamas denied any involvement in the al-Quds attack.
Hamas also pounded a base used by Mr Abbas's presidential guard with mortar bombs and took it over. Hamas said that it had seized weapons at the base before setting it on fire.
Ashraf Reziq, who lives near the Islamic University, said that nobody felt safe.
"Gaza has turned into a city of ghosts," he said. "No one is in the streets . . . if we have one thing at all, it is fear."
Since taking over the government last March Hamas has struggled to rule under the weight of US-backed sanctions imposed because of its refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace deals with the Jewish state. - ( Reuters)