Rival Palestinian factions fight on

A second day of deadly fighting between rival Palestinian forces led to the resignation of a frustrated top security official and left civilians cowering in their houses as masked gunmen roamed the streets.

The warring factions agreed to a truce late yesterday, the second such agreement in as many days, but continued to battle each other throughout the night. One Hamas man was killed in fighting early today, Palestinian security officials said, the ninth person to die since new internal violence erupted in Gaza.

The crisis threatens a fragile unity government established two months ago to put an end to the bloody clashes.

With the death toll mounting yesterday, Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh resigned and accused leaders on both sides of thwarting his efforts to halt the violence.

The career civil servant was a compromise candidate for the top security post when the more moderate Fatah movement and the Islamic radicals of Hamas formed the unity government in March after months of fighting.

The four people killed yesterday included a truck driver hit by a stray bullet while delivering bread and three Fatah supporters shot in clashes in Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Younis.

Gazans found the latest violence more ominous than the previous round, saying it signalled the failure of the power-sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah.

“Now they are starting from where they left off,” said Jamal Abu Shabaan, 21, who witnessed a gun battle outside his furniture store on Sunday. “If they get to each others’ throats, they won’t let go this time.”

Abu Shabaan said he had made up his mind after the last round of bloodshed to emigrate to Saudi Arabia and expected to leave in the coming days.

Universities were closed because of the violence, and many worried parents kept their children home from school.

The Palestinian infighting, combined with a government crisis in Israel that is threatening to bring down Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is hurting new attempts to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the peace table after seven years of conflict.

At the centre of the new Palestinian fighting is a dispute over who controls the security forces. A majority of the 80,000 security officers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader, while Hamas set up its own 6,000-strong militia last year.