Israel struck at Hamas targets in Gaza on Friday, killing at least one man, and threatened further action to stop rocket attacks, while Palestinian rival factions fought each other in turmoil that verged on civil war.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction has been accused by Hamas of joining forces with Israel against it, called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask her to halt an Israeli “military escalation”, a Palestinian news agency said.
Fatah and Hamas forces, locked in a week-old round of fighting, waged a fierce battle in Gaza City in which witnesses said three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the pro-Hamas Islamic University campus.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, called on Palestinians to unite against “Israeli aggression” and cease internal fighting.
“All members of the security services should abide by the instructions of the political leadership and return to their positions and bases, and also all gunmen should pull out of the streets,” Mr Haniyeh told reporters.
Truces agreed by Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah over the past week have collapsed swiftly. Nearly 50 people have died in the deadliest internal violence since the two rival groups formed a unity government in March. In Tel Aviv, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign ambassadors the government may decide further action within days and noted the cabinet would meet as usual on Sunday. Israeli forces have recently completed training for a possible ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, from which they and Israeli settlers withdrew in 2005.
A Palestinian hospital official said at least one man was killed and others were wounded when Israeli helicopter gunships fired on them after they launched a rocket into Israel.