Hamas and Fatah forces clashed on Friday in the Gaza strip wounding two fighters and a young boy. The gun fight broke out in the town of Khan Younis and at least one member of the Hamas and one of Fatah were wounded as a result of the fight. A hand grenade also slightly wounded a young boy, and the house of a Hamas member was torched. Meanwhile in the West Bank city of Ramallah 2,000 Hamas supporters rallied in memory of Hamas leaders who have been killed by Israel.
Despite the formation of a unity government on March 17 tensions between the two factions is still escalating. Palestinian Prime Minister and a member of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh accused the United States of fuelling tensions by not lifting the economic sanctions. “The banks refused to deal with us and still refuse to deal with the government because of American gang-like actions,” Haniyeh said. Ismail Haniyeh told reporters that his cabinet will hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss new security plans for stemming factional violence.
The leader of the Palestinian authority Mahmud Abbas is seeking ways to free an Israeli soldier, who was seized by Palestinians last June in a cross border raid in Gaza. “We are undertaking efforts to free Gilad Shalit and these efforts will soon come to fruition”, Abbas told France 24 television.