Fighting worsens in Gaza; 3 killed

Fighting escalated between Hamas and Fatah on Sunday as the foreign minister’s convoy and the president’s residence came under fire in Gaza City a day after President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would call early elections to try to end a political stalemate. Three people were killed in the latest fighting between the Palestinian factions.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared that his Hamas movement, which controls the Cabinet and parliament, would boycott an election and warned that any attempt to hold one could lead to “large disturbances.”

A 19-year-old woman and an officer in the presidential guard died during a day of street and rooftop gun battles, medical officials said, and a commander loyal to Abbas was found dead after being abducted. At least 20 other people, including a French journalist, were reported wounded.

Abbas, the Fatah movement leader, was not in Gaza at the time of the attack on his residence. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a key Hamas official, fled his vehicle after it came under sniper fire near his office. He was unharmed.

The clashes were the heaviest in weeks between armed factions of the Palestinian Authority’s two largest political movements. They have frequently skirmished for political control and over policy toward Israel since shortly after Hamas’ election victory early this year ended decades of Fatah dominance over Palestinian affairs.

In the evening, Hamas officials said the two sides had reached a verbal agreement to halt the fighting, but no one showed up at a news conference at which a signed text was to be presented. Sporadic shooting continued late into the night.

Abbas said Saturday that early elections for president and parliament were the only way to break a deadlock between his faction, which wants to revive peace talks with Israel, and Hamas, which is sworn to the Jewish state’s destruction.

Western nations and Israel have imposed a crippling financial blockade on the West Bank and Gaza Strip to try to force Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Abbas has tried to persuade Hamas to give way to a broad-based “unity government” acceptable to the international community, but the talks broke down this month.

Sunday’s shooting started at dawn when militants with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades attacked a training camp for Abbas’ presidential guard here, killing an officer and setting fire to the tents.

Later, the ambush of Zahar’s convoy set off a round of armed exchanges. Presidential guards seized control of the Hamas-run Agriculture and Transport Ministry buildings as they moved to secure an area around Abbas’ residence, which eventually came under mortar fire that wounded two guards.

Gunmen opened fire at an evening Fatah rally where thousands of people were marching in support of the president. Three people were wounded.

Hamas and Fatah traded accusations and denials over who was responsible for the clashes.

“What is happening is a real military coup: assassinations, attempted assassinations, the occupation of ministries,” Zahar said at a news conference.

Speaking to supporters at a Gaza refugee camp, Haniyeh denounced Abbas’ move toward early elections as “illegitimate” and “inflammatory.”

“The Palestinian government calls on all people to show restraint and to alleviate tension,” Haniyeh said. “The battle of the Palestinian people is not an internal battle. It is a battle against the [Israeli] occupation.”

Undeterred, Abbas met at his West Bank headquarters with members of the Central Election Commission to discuss a possible date for voting. The head of the panel said it would take three months to organize elections. Saeb Erekat, a top presidential aide, predicted balloting would be held around June.

That would allow time for Hamas to resume talks with Fatah on a unity government, a possibility Abbas said he was leaving open.

But Mustafa Assawaf, a Palestinian political analyst in Gaza who is sympathetic to Hamas, said the violence was shrinking any room for compromise.

“Whoever expects Hamas to change its position on Israel if dialogue resumes is deluded,” Assawaf said.

Hamas members said they would try to get parliament to declare any early elections illegal. Palestinian law makes no provision for elections ahead of schedule; Abbas’ aides say that gives him leeway to call them.

Elections might be impossible if there is violent resistance and could lose their legitimacy if Hamas stages a peaceful boycott. Syrian-based exiled leaders of smaller Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also rejected Abbas’ move toward a vote.

Hamas would risk losing popular support if it stood for election -- but also if it refused.

A poll of Palestinians released Sunday by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 61% of respondents favored early elections and 37% opposed them.

The survey of 1,270 voters also showed Fatah winning 42% of the parliamentary vote and Hamas 36%, with the rest favoring smaller parties. If Abbas and Haniyeh were to run against each other for president, the poll found, Haniyeh would prevail by 46% to 45% -- within the survey’s margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll was conducted before Abbas’ announcement.

Hamas won 74 seats and Fatah 45 seats in the 132-member parliament in January. Although the poll indicates Hamas has lost popularity, Khalil Shikaki, director of the polling agency, said voters were disillusioned with both movements.

boudreaux@latimes.com

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Times special correspondent Abu Alouf reported from Gaza City and staff writer Boudreaux from Jerusalem.