Two Fatah policemen killed in Gaza

Hamas gunmen killed two Palestinian policemen loyal to the rival Fatah movement this morning, just hours after the sides agreed to a new ceasefire meant to end more than a week of factional fighting.

Fatah officials condemned the killing but said they remained committed to the truce.

Gaza City remained calm at midmorning, in contrast to the pitched battles that raged in city streets a day earlier.

However, hundreds of people called for revenge at the policemen’s funeral, raising the prospect of renewed fighting.

Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said the policeman, cousins in their early 20s, were killed as they were patrolling Gaza City when their vehicle was attacked.

Six other people in the car were wounded, he said.

“They came under fire from an ambush of masked gunmen affiliated with Hamas,” Abu Khoussa said.

He said Fatah considered the shooting a violation of the cease-fire, but would still honour the truce, announced just before midnight by President Mahmoud Abbas.

“Fatah is still committed to the agreement and to the announcement by President Abbas last night,” he said.

About 300 people attended a funeral for the dead officers today.

Many of the men were armed, shooting in the air and calling for revenge.

At one point, the funeral procession passed by the house of Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, and mourners shouted epithets. Zahar apparently was not in the area at the time.

Hamas’ website described the fatal shooting as “an intense gun battle … between Fatah and the (Hamas) executive unit.” It said “the identity and the affiliation of the people killed is still unknown.”

Security officials had initially thought the shooting was related to a long-running dispute between two local families and unrelated to the past week of political violence.

The fighting erupted last week after months of political tensions between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah movement.

Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction, defeated Fatah, which favours peace talks with the Jewish state, in legislative elections early this year.

The violence intensified after Abbas announced on Saturday that he was seeking new elections to end the political deadlock, a direct challenge to Hamas’ control of the Cabinet and parliament.

In all, 14 people have died in the clashes, one of the deadliest bouts of Palestinian infighting.