Armed men raked the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas with gunfire late on Thursday, killing a bodyguard and injuring Haniyeh's son and a political adviser in what Hamas said was an assassination attempt.
The shooting capped a turbulent day of intensifying factional fighting between the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Both sides have warned that they are edging closer to civil war.
Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire on the streets of Gaza City and the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday.
The latest violence erupted ahead of planned celebrations for Hamas' 19th anniversary.
Ramallah hospitals said at least 30 people were injured in the clash there, including a 10-year-old boy hit in the head by crossfire.
The shooting in Gaza City began yesterday afternoon when masked Hamas gunmen began waging battle with Fatah-allied Palestinian police at their post in the middle of the city. The four-minute battle sent civilians running for cover.
The shooting took place a block away from the home of Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who Hamas accused of orchestrating the attack on Haniyeh.
The fighting in Ramallah began when Fatah and Hamas militants began shooting at each other in the street. Police arrived to break up the fighting.
Thursday's fighting erupted at the Rafah border terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border, as Haniyeh was initially barred by Israel from returning to Gaza, following a tour of the Muslim world. In all, 27 people were wounded in the gunbattles at the border terminal.
After waiting at the border for hours, Haniyeh finally crossed into Gaza late on Thursday. Haniyeh emerged from the border terminal and prepared to climb on the back of a pickup trip, presumably to deliver a speech, when gunshots rang out. Bodyguards jumped on Haniyeh to protect him.
A 24-year-old bodyguard of Haniyeh was killed. Haniyeh's son, Abdel Salam, and his political adviser, Ahmed Yousef, were hurt in the shooting. Abdel Salam was hit in the jaw and Yousef in the finger.
Haniyeh later said that "we know the party that shot directly at our cars ... and we also know how to deal with this," but did not explain further.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the shooting was an attempt to assassinate Haniyeh and held the Fatah-allied Presidential Guard responsible.
"The Presidential Guard controls the Palestinian side [of the border terminal]. There are no other gunmen there. They are responsible for security of the border," Barhoum said. "We say there was a clear assassination attempt."
Wael Dahab, a spokesman for the Presidential Guard, said many gunmen were in the area and that it was difficult to control the situation.
"Our men did not start the shooting, they did not shoot, and there were many people carrying guns," he said.
Abbas expressed regret for the shooting, according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
Before crossing back into Gaza, Haniyeh had to leave behind an estimated US$35 million he had hoped to use to alleviate hardships caused by a Western aid boycott against his militant Islamic movement's government.
Israel ordered the crossing closed to keep Haniyeh from bringing in the cash, charging it was to be used for terror attacks. Israel, the US and EU list Hamas as a terror organization. Israeli officials said Haniyeh could return to Gaza -- but without the money.
Maria Telleria, spokeswoman for European monitors at the crossing, said Haniyeh left the funds in Egypt.
The latest round of Hamas-Fatah fighting erupted on Monday with the brutal killing of the three small children of a Fatah security official and continued Wednesday with the gangland-style execution of a Hamas judge.
Thursday's gunbattles at the border erupted in the afternoon after Hamas militants, angry that Israel was preventing Haniyeh from returning, stormed the Rafah terminal.
The Presidential Guard, responsible for securing the area, opened fire, setting off a gunfight.
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