Palestinians carry the body of a Hamas
militant during his funeral at Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza strip
May 8. -Xinhua/Reuters
At least 10 Palestinians were injured early on Tuesday in fresh clashes
between militants of the Islamic Hamas and Fatah movements in the Gaza Strip,
medics and witnesses reported.
Goma'a al-Saqqa, chief of emergency at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza told reporters
that eight of the wounded are schoolchildren who sustained moderate injuries.
Tuesday's gun battles between Hamas and Fatah militants came after their
Monday's bloody clashes in Gaza, which killed three militants including two from
Fatah and one from Hamas.
The fresh clashes erupted in the Tufah neighborhood in northeastern Gaza
closed to senior Fatah leader Samir al-Masharawi's home, said witnesses.
Palestinian Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya called on the fighting groups
to calm down and restrain themselves and instructed his interior minister to
form an inquiry panel to investigate the "sorrow incidents."
The highest following-up committee of 13 different national and Islamic
factions issued a statement overnight, calling on both movements to keep
self-restraint and dialogue.
Relations between Fatah and Hamas have been bitter after Hamas defeated Fatah
in a January election, ending Fatah's long dominance in the Palestinian
territories.