Disgruntled relatives of a Fatah activist killed in recent fighting with Hamas fired at Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's motorcade as it drove through Gaza on Friday, missing the Hamas leader's armored Mercedes but wounding some of his bodyguards, Palestinian security officials said. Witnesses said shots hit the last vehicle in the convoy and the occupants fled before attackers torched the car. Shortly after the attack, Hamas sources announced that this was not considered an assassination attempt. The incident came despite reports that Fatah and Hamas officials had reportedly reached an agreement Thursday night to cease incitement and violence between the rival factions in the Palestinian Authority, in honor of the conclusion of the month of Ramadan. The overnight discussions between representatives of the two parties were the first high-level talks in recent times. However, the agreement did not signal an end to the crisis in the PA, as Friday's shooting demonstrated.
In a separate development, tensions between Fatah and Hamas were running high in Nablus after the assassination of a local Hamas leader, Ammar Taher. PA security officials said Taher, 47, was gunned down by unidentified gunmen as he walked out of a mosque in the city late Wednesday night. Although no group claimed responsibility for the killing, Hamas leaders blamed local Fatah gunmen.