Nine people were wounded in a second day of fighting between gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas on Tuesday, the most serious Palestinian internal strife since Hamas won power.
Three gunmen were killed on Monday in clashes between the two factions, fueled by a power struggle waged by Abbas and Haniyeh over control of security forces that has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war.
Medics said four teenagers on their way to school were among the wounded in Tuesday's fighting. Gunmen and police were also among those hurt in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood, they said.
The fighting subsided after about an hour, said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, whose militant Islamist group won parliamentary elections in January. ‘These unfortunate incidents are now under control, thanks to the cooperation of all.’
Fatah officials said the fighting began when gunmen fired at a car carrying bodyguards of a senior Fatah official. Hamas had no immediate comment on how the fighting started.
Monday's fighting in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis erupted over allegations Hamas gunmen had kidnapped at least one Fatah security official.
Officials from both factions agreed to set up a committee to defuse tensions.
Abbas and Haniyeh failed in weekend talks to resolve security disputes.
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas deepened after Abbas appointed a Fatah loyalist to a senior post in the Interior Ministry, which supervises the security forces, so he could exert more influence over the Hamas-run ministry.
Adding to the tension is a financial crisis caused by the freezing of aid to the Palestinian Authority by major donor countries until Hamas renounces violence, recognizes the Jewish state's right to exist and embraces existing peace deals.
Hamas says talks with Israel would be a waste of time.
Local, regional and international banks, fearful of facing U.S. anti-terrorism sanctions and lawsuits, have refused to deal with the Authority.
As a result, the Hamas-led government has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 public employees since March, prompting the World Bank to express concern about a humanitarian situation that could render the West Bank and Gaza Strip ungovernable.
(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah)