Palestinian rival factions fought each other in Gaza today and Israeli aircraft killed a Hamas fighter as Israel threatened to take "vibrant measures" to stop rocket attacks on its territory.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - accused by Hamas of siding with Israel
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction has been accused by Hamas of joining forces with Israel against it, called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask her to halt an Israeli "military escalation", a Palestinian news agency said.
Fatah and Hamas forces, locked in a week-old round of fighting, waged a fierce battle in Gaza City in which witnesses said three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the pro-Hamas Islamic University campus.
Tanks and some other troops took up positions yesterday , just inside the crowded coastal enclave in a move the military called "defensive".
At least nine Hamas fighters have been killed in Israeli strikes since yesterday morning. Militants from Gaza have fired about 100 rockets at the town of Sderot and its surroundings in the past week, causing several injuries but no deaths
Mr Abbas, whose Fatah faction formed a unity government with Hamas in March, was quoted by Wafa news agency as asking Dr Rice "to stop the Israeli military escalation against our people and continue their efforts to push the peace process forward".
The Palestinian Authority has been crippled since Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, won parliamentary elections early last year, prompting Israeli and international sanctions.
In Tel Aviv, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign ambassadors the government may decide further action within days. Israeli forces have recently completed training for a possible ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, from which they and Israeli settlers withdrew in 2005.