Rival Palestinian factions have exchanged fire in the Gaza Strip for a second day, despite appeals for calm from the president and the prime minister. A gunfight broke out on Monday after protesters from Fatah threw stones at the house of a Hamas minister and chanted anti-government slogans in Bait Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been locked in an increasingly bitter struggle with Ismail Haniya's government since efforts to form a unity coalition stalled.
The government's problems of paying the salaries of its workers, many of them from Fatah, have increased tensions between the groups.
The Hamas-led government is short of funds partly because of an aid embargo imposed because of its refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. Israel has also been withholding tax revenues and its effective blockade of Palestinian territories has ruined the local economy.
Eight people were killed on Sunday during clashes between Fatah and forces loyal to Hamas in the worst internal fighting for months.
Agencies
Publication time: 2 October 2006, 11:43
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