MIDDLE EAST:Hamas and Fatah militants clashed in the Gaza Strip on Friday, wounding two fighters and a young boy, as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas raised hopes of a deal to free an abducted Israeli soldier.
Tensions are high in Gaza despite the formation of a unity government on March 17th between the ruling Islamist Hamas movement and Abbas's secular Fatah faction.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, speaking by phone to a rally of some 2,000 supporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, vowed not to bow to western pressure.
"Hamas will not give up a single metre of our land. We must and we will continue with the path of resistance and we will not compromise," Mr Meshaal, who lives in Syria, said, according to witnesses who attended the rally.
Later in Gaza city, unknown gunmen shot and wounded a trade union official affiliated to Fatah. Medical staff said Rasin al-Biyari was treated for neck wounds but that he was not seriously hurt in the attack.
The gun battle in the town of Khan Younis wounded at least one member of Hamas and one member of Fatah, residents and rescue workers said. A hand grenade slightly injured a boy and the house of a Hamas member was torched.
Both sides said the fighting started when a Hamas member posted an Islamist pamphlet near a mosque loyal to Fatah.
Mr Abbas told France 24 television he was optimistic Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized last June in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants from Gaza, would be released soon. Mr Abbas offered no specifics and has made similar comments before.
"We are undertaking efforts to free Shalit and these efforts will soon come to fruition," Mr Abbas said. "We are optimistic. He will be freed soon." A member of one of the groups that kidnapped Shalit said he knew of no change in his situation.
The prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said his cabinet would hold a special meeting today to discuss a new security plan aimed at stemming factional fighting and growing lawlessness.
Mr Haniyeh offered no details about the plan, drawn up by interior minister Hani al-Qawasmi.
Mr Abbas said efforts were under way to improve the security situation and free a BBC journalist abducted in Gaza on March 12th. "However, this new phase will need a certain time to bring stability to the situation, of course," he said.
At least three Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting in the Gaza Strip since the unity government was formed.
Mr Haniyeh accused the United States of fuelling the tensions by refusing to lift economic sanctions that prevent local, regional and international banks from transferring funds directly to the government.
"The banks refused to deal with us and they are still refusing [to deal with the government] because of American gang-like actions," Mr Haniyeh said.
The quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - has demanded the Palestinian government recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace agreements with Israel.
Mr Haniyeh brushed aside demands that Hamas recognise Israel . - (Reuters)