GAZA CITY - Another four Palestinians died on Saturday in clashes between rival factions in Gaza, bringing to 19 the death toll in three days of bitter fighting that has torpedoed talks on forming a unity government. The four were killed in early morning firefights in central Gaza City, medical sources said.Rival supporters of the ruling Hamas movement and the Fatah faction loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have fought running gun battles and fired off volleys of mortars and grenades in the densely populated streets of Gaza City since Thursday night, medics and witnesses said. In addition, tit-for-tat kidnappings continued with 19 members of both Fatah and Hamas nabbed in three different abductions in the Gaza Strip, according to security forces.
The fighting, the fiercest since the Hamas won parliamentary elections one year ago, has also left around 50 people injured, medical officials said.
The streets of Gaza City were deserted Saturday as storekeepers shuttered up their shops and residents stayed put in the relative safety of their homes. But the fighting resumed Saturday evening as Hamas gunmen perched on the roof of a Gaza City mosque traded
| Lots of posing, shooting from the hip, macho leveling of arms, eye-rolling and face-making, but precious little accurate small arms fire. |
| Typical Paleo in-fighting. |