Hamas, Fatah Return To Violence

In a new round of factional fighting, assailants targeted three senior Hamas officials in the West Bank, kidnapping one, torching the car of a second and shooting in the air as a third emerged from a mosque, security officials said Thursday.

Separately, in the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza, a member of a Hamas security force was killed Thursday when the car he was driving in came under fire from unidentified assailants, a force spokesman said. Four other people were wounded.

Hamas accused Fatah of the attack, but Fatah denied involvement.

In nearby Beit Lahiya, a Fatah member was killed and at least 14 other people were wounded in a Hamas-Fatah shootout, witnesses and security officials said. Hamas gunmen armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades surrounded the house of a Fatah-linked security commander and exchanged fire with guards.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports the fresh round of violence has shattered hopes that the latest truce agreement between the factions might hold, and renewed fears of a civil war in the Palestinian territories.

The persistent clashes — large-scale confrontations began in Gaza a month ago — are a result of the intensifying power struggle between the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement led by moderate President Mahmoud Abbas. Both sides have hardened their positions, dooming truce attempts to quick failure.

Hamas blamed Fatah for the West Bank attacks, which came just hours after four Fatah loyalists were killed in battles with Hamas in Gaza. Clashes also erupted Thursday during the funeral for the victims of Wednesday's fighting in Gaza, and five people were wounded.

In response to the renewed fighting, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas cut short a tour of Arab nations and returned to Gaza on Thursday. His next stop was to have been Jordan, which has offered to host a meeting between Haniyeh and Abbas, in an attempt to defuse tensions between the political rivals. With Haniyeh returning to Gaza, it's unlikely they'll meet soon.

Both sides have hardened their stance in recent weeks. Talks on a forming a coalition government between Hamas and the more moderate Fatah have broken down and Abbas has threatened to call early elections. But he may not have enough clout to go through with the plan, denounced by the Hamas-led government as a coup attempt.

In another mediation attempt, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was to meet later on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to try to restart Mideast peace talks and free an Israeli soldier held by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza. Israeli media reported that Mubarak would propose a regional peace summit involving Israel, the Palestinians, Egypt and Jordan, but Olmert's aides said they were unaware of such a proposal.

Meanwhile, Palestinian journalists in the West Bank on Thursday called for the release of a Peruvian photographer who was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

The photographer, Jaime Razuri, works for the French news agency Agence France-Presse.

About 20 Palestinian journalists gathered in downtown Ramallah on Thursday, holding Razuri's picture and signs reading "We demand that the Palestinian Authority protect journalists."

Two dozen journalists and other foreigners have been kidnapped in Gaza in the past two years.

Late Wednesday, after a day of violent clashes in Gaza, gunmen stormed the home of Deputy Health Minister Bashar Karmi of Hamas in the West Bank town of El Bireh and forced him into their car at gunpoint.

Karmi told The Associated Press that the kidnappers placed a hood over his head, handcuffed him and moved him from one location to another, before releasing him five hours later. The kidnappers warned him that if the fighting continues in Gaza, it will spread to the West Bank, he said.

In the West Bank town of Jenin, assailants torched the car of Prisoner Affairs Minister Wasfi Kabaha of Hamas. It was the third attack on a car owned by Kabaha.

In the village of Jabaa, gunmen fired in the air as the local prayer leader and senior Hamas activist, Nasser Al Awna, emerged from the mosque. He was not harmed.

Jamal Tirawi, a Fatah lawmaker, warned that Hamas leaders in the West Bank could be targeted again.

"If Hamas keeps doing what it is doing with its militia in Gaza, and is killing our members, all Hamas leaders in the West Bank are in our hands," said Tirawi, a former member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot.

Hamas warned in a statement on its web site that "those in Fatah who are plotting a coup are trying to escalate tension in the Palestinian street" and warned of any attempt to harm Hamas government officials.

In Gaza, meanwhile, thousands joined the funeral procession for three Fatah loyalists killed in gun battles with Hamas on Wednesday. In all, five people were killed Wednesday, including a woman bystander.

At Thursday's funeral, marchers fired automatic rifles in the air and chanted anti-Hamas slogans.

Five mourners were wounded in two separate incidents.

In the Mughazi refugee camp, Fatah said the procession came under fire from a building housing a Hamas kindergarten and mosque. Hamas said mourners had trashed the mosque, but denied its gunmen opened fire on the procession. Two people were hurt. Nearby, three Fatah loyalists were wounded as they passed by a Hamas-manned checkpoint, hospital officials said.