Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought in Gaza City’s beachfront neighbourhoods and around security compounds this morning, ignoring renewed truce appeals and Arab mediation efforts.

Dozens of masked gunmen claiming to be members of al-Qaida stormed an empty Gaza Strip beach resort this morning and blew up a reception hall, saying they were sending a message to a close ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’, witnesses said.

Palestinian militants today seized three French citizens in the West Bank, and the French government said it was trying to free the men.

The Islamic militant group Hamas said today it would double the size of its paramilitary force in Gaza, defying President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to outlaw the unit and raising the stakes in an increasingly bloody power struggle between the two rivals.

A resurgence in factional violence in Gaza killed three Palestinians today, sparked a daylight gun battle and led to fears that an already fragile truce between Hamas and Fatah would completely collapse.

Hamas gunmen, angry over an apparent assassination attempt against a top Hamas official, attacked President Mahmoud Abbas’ residence in Gaza City, witnesses said.

President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to set up a Palestinian government acceptable to the West suffered a new setback when the prime minister from the Islamic militant Hamas group said he would not lead a coalition that recognised Israel.

Top Palestinian leaders of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party today gave Abbas the go ahead to begin forming a unity government with the militant Hamas in an effort to end internal feuding and international isolation, a party member said.

Militants allied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party said today they were holding a third Israeli captive.

The Israeli army fired missiles at a car in Gaza City today, killing Islamic Jihad’s most senior militant and a woman and her five-year-old son, Palestinian officials and relatives said.