Three gunmen were killed today when fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip between Fatah forces backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists.
The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Mr Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend.
Mr Abbas and Mr Haniyeh, whose militant Islamist group won a January 25th parliamentary election, are embroiled in a power struggle over control of the security forces, and this has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war between the feuding factions.
The Khan Younis clashes began overnight when, according to a Hamas spokesman, Fatah security men "kidnapped" three members of Hamas's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades.
Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where their comrades were being held and captured four Fatah men, the spokesman said.
A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, he added.