Fatah-Hamas Violence Continues In Gaza

Assailants gunned down a Muslim preacher known for his anti-Hamas views on Friday, witnesses said, moments after he exited a mosque where he had delivered a sermon criticizing the Islamic group's role in a recent wave of Gaza violence.

The slaying came as thousands of Palestinian mourners marched through Gaza City carrying the bodies of seven Fatah men killed in a standoff with Hamas. Thursday's gunfight was the bloodiest single battle in weeks of factional fighting, and Fatah said it was suspending talks with Hamas until the assailants are brought to justice.

The unrest is part of a power struggle that has raised fears of a Palestinian civil war, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is providing $86 million to bolster security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, reports Berger. According to official U.S. documents, the money is aimed at helping Abbas fight terrorism. Hamas officials accused the U.S. of helping Abbas launch a "coup" against the Hamas-led government.

There was no claim of responsibility in Friday's shooting of Adel Nasar, a mosque preacher who was shot as he got in a car in the Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza, according to witnesses.

But Fatah accused Hamas. "Sheik Nasar was killed after he came out of the mosque where he criticized Hamas after the crime committed by some of its gunmen yesterday," the group said in a statement.

Salem Salama, a lawmaker and top Hamas official in central Gaza, denied any involvement by his group. "Hamas condemns this cowardly assassination," he said. "We will work with all the honorable people here to find the killers and bring them to justice."

Nasar's assailants pulled up to him in a white car and speed away after the shooting, witnesses said.

Nasar, 50, was not openly affiliated with any political party, but he was a well-known figure in the refugee camp and often preached against Hamas. Shortly before the shooting, Nasar had criticized Thursday's bloody attack on the home of Col. Mohammed Ghayeb, a top Fatah official in northern Gaza, witnesses said.

In his sermon, Nasar warned that God would punish the killers of Ghayeb and his bodyguards. He also said God would punish Palestinian rulers for not preventing the attack, said Jibril Awwar, a friend of the preacher who was lightly wounded in Friday's shooting.

Nasar did not mention Hamas by name, but Awwar said the preacher's message was aimed at the Islamic group, which controls most of the Palestinian government.

Political tensions have been high since Hamas defeated Fatah in parliamentary elections one year ago. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah favors peace talks with Israel. Hamas refuses to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist, despite international sanctions against its government.

The political tensions erupted into violence last month after three young sons of a Fatah security commander were killed in a drive-by shooting. In all, more than two dozen people have died in the infighting.

The latest violence prompted an urgent meeting early Friday between Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Though the two sides agreed to pull back their forces, the meeting failed to cool raging tensions.

"We are going to end all armed displays in the streets," Haniyeh said after the meeting. Abbas had no comment. Previous truce deals have quickly collapsed because of the political deadlock. Hamas controls the government, but the moderate Abbas wields power as a separately-elected president.

Funeral Procession For Murdered Official, Bodyguards

In Jebaliya in northern Gaza, thousands of people carried the bodies of Col. Ghayeb and six bodyguards killed with him in a funeral procession held in pouring rain. The bodies were draped in yellow Fatah flags.

Dozens of Fatah gunmen joined the march, firing in the air and calling for vengeance against Hamas. Several charred cars remained parked outside Ghayeb's home, which was pocked with bullet holes, blacked by smoke and heavily damaged inside by Hamas grenade fire.

Echoing the mood on the streets, a Fatah statement accused Interior Minister Said Siyam's special security service of being behind Thursday's assault and called for attacks against the killers. As interior minister, Siyam oversees Hamas' official militia, widely known as the "executive force."

"They are legitimate targets unless they are handed over to justice," the statement said. "Said Siyam is responsible for the execution and the cold-blooded murder to which our martyrs in Jebaliya were subjected.

"There will be no dialogue in the shadow of killing and terrorism practiced by Hamas," the statement added.

Ghayeb was on the phone to Palestine TV just moments before his death and appealed for help against the approaching Hamas gunmen. "They are targeting the house, children are dying, they are bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance, we want an ambulance, somebody move," he said.

The battle raged for much of the day, and about three dozen were wounded, including eight children and Ghayeb's wife.

When Friday's funeral procession passed the family home, its walls blackened and pocked with bullet holes, a masked militant fired bursts into the air and called for revenge.

"The hand which fired against him and his comrades will be cut off," he shouted.

In several places in the West Bank late Thursday, Fatah militants attacked Hamas offices and vehicles. One Hamas activist was wounded, Palestinian security officials said.

Speaking to reporters after Friday prayers in Gaza City, Haniyeh urged Palestinians not to let the violence spill over to the West Bank and to focus on fighting Israel. "Our fight is not an internal one. It's against the occupation," Haniyeh said.

Another bodyguard of Ghayeb died of his wounds Friday, medical officials said, raising the total death toll from the gunfight to nine, including a Hamas gunman.

On Thursday, Israeli forces entered the West Bank town of Ramallah in the first major army raid since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas agreed two weeks earlier to try to ease tensions between the sides.

The two-hour raid, accompanied by heavy gun battles, turned downtown Ramallah into a battlefield with dozens of cars smashed and vegetable carts overturned. Four Palestinians were killed and 20 wounded in the fighting. The Israelis eventually left after detaining four suspects, all of whom were later released, the army said.

The clash, which came only hours before Olmert held a summit meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, embarrassed the Israeli leader, who apologized for any civilian casualties and said the operation was intended to protect Israel from terrorist attacks.

"Things developed in a way that could not have been predicted in advance. If innocent people were hurt, this was not our intention," Olmert said.

According to Israeli security officials, the government did not know ahead of time about the Ramallah raid, which was supposed to be a routine arrest operation and so did not have to be approved by the defense minister. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The apparent target of the raid, Rabia Hamed, a Fatah militant, escaped with serious injuries. A photographer for the local news agency Maan was critically wounded by gunfire.