One dead after Palestinian clashes

Palestinian gunmen from the dominant Islamist Hamas group killed a member of rival group Fatah today, hospital officials said…

Palestinian gunmen from the dominant Islamist Hamas group killed a member of rival group Fatah today, hospital officials said.

Fatah said the clash in the southern town of Rafah broke out when Hamas gunmen confronted one of its local leaders at his home. The man's brother was killed.

Nine other Palestinians were wounded, at least five from Fatah, hospital officials said in what was the worst flare-up of factional fighting in Gaza in almost three weeks.

Today's death was the first since an Egyptian-brokered truce took hold in mid-May after factional fighting that killed some 50 Palestinians.

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said this week that the internal strife, which underscored ideological differences on whether and how to wage peace talks with Israel, risked spilling over into civil war.