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Abbas talks to Hamas' Mashaal

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah spoke by telephone with Hamas' exiled leader in a new bid to end Gaza's factional fighting, as Israeli missiles hit two suspected Hamas rocket workshops yesterday.

Also yesterday, gunmen clashed near Gaza City's Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, and two Fatah fighters were injured. In northern Gaza, where Israeli tanks patrol the edge of the coastal strip to push back rocket squads, one man was wounded by tank fire, hospital officials said.

The weeklong Hamas-Fatah fighting has killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded dozens, while the death toll from several days of Israeli airstrikes on Hamas command centers has reached 20.

Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the most senior Hamas politician in Gaza, have failed to make a ceasefire stick, suggesting that they have largely lost control to gunmen and their political patrons.

Abbas spoke late on Friday to the supreme leader of Hamas, Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal, who urged senior Hamas and Fatah officials to meet.

Some of the heaviest fighting has taken place around Abbas' heavily fortified seaside compound in Gaza City.

During periods of lull, residents of the area ventured out onto their balconies or even into the streets, while some security men slept on sidewalks after guarding street corner positions through the night.

A local supermarket owner, Mohammed Badrasawi, said the security forces posted in the neighborhood bought most of his bottled water and the entire stock of playing cards -- 150 decks -- along with chess boards and dominos for the long hours of guard duty.

After a week of fighting, garbage piles were growing. A few children were picking up spent ammunition.

In Israel, more homemade Hamas rockets hit the border town of Sderot on Friday, injuring four Israelis. One rocket fell yesterday, hitting a house in another area. Israel retaliated with airstrikes on two suspected Hamas rocket workshops in Gaza City.

Despite an escalating air campaign, a senior Israeli army officer said there were no immediate plans for a major ground offensive against rocket teams, saying Israel was reluctant to do something that might unite the Palestinian factions. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decision had been made.

In a new tactic, Hamas abducted two senior civilians with ties to Fatah late on Friday.

The gunmen freed Abdel Salam Abu Askar, a veteran journalist who advises Fatah's Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, after several hours. But Majed Abu Ghoneima was still being held. He is the office manager for Abdullah Franji, a senior Fatah official.

In related news, the Israeli ambassador to the US on Friday warned that Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip had been a "very measured" response to Palestinian attacks, but it could take "other actions" if necessary.

"Our response so far has been very measured because we understand the game plan of the other side, because we carefully assess the different options," Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor said.

"But the situation is very volatile and the trend is very negative, which may necessitate other actions in the future -- or not so much in the future, depending on the developments," he said.
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