Rival Palestinian factions clashed in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 20 in a wave of bombing and shootings. Additionally, a Fatah-linked group said it had captured 24 Hamas hostages.
The death toll is the highest in internal Palestinian violence in a single day since Hamas' rise to power exactly a year ago. On Friday evening, representatives of Fatah and Hamas arrived at a cease-fire agreement in a meeting with Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siyam in Gaza, though the cease-fire has yet to be implemented.
Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said it hsd seized Hamas supporters in Gaza and the West Bank and threatened a "severe response" if Hamas gunmen hurt a senior Fatah activist besieged in Gaza. Residents said gunfire echoed across Gaza late on Friday and both Hamas and Fatah forces deployed on the streets. Two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at Fatah's Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City, Reuters reported.
"The entire dialogue could explode," Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said, blaming Hamas for the violence. "How can dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?" The talks were put off to Sunday from Friday.
Eight Hamas supporters, including a local leader, three activists from Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and two bystanders were killed in violence which started with a bombing on Thursday night. Hamas vowed revenge for the killing of their members and of the leader named Zuhair al-Mansi which a spokesman described as a "grave crime". He said there would be no mercy for the killers.
"There can be no dialogue with the killers. We will not stand handcuffed and there will be no mercy," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
The fighting coincided with a rally by thousands of Hamas followers to observe the first anniversary of the movement's election victory over Fatah last year.
In Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas gunmen besieged and later stormed the house of senior Fatah member Mansour Shalayel, who they accused of shooting a Hamas supporter earlier on Friday.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades paraded a group of youths it had captured and threatened tough reprisals if Shalayel was hurt.
In the West Bank town of Tulkarem unknown gunmen shot and critically wounded a Hamas official as he left evening prayers.
