New Palestinian Truce Already Bloodied

Hamas gunmen killed two Palestinian policemen loyal to the rival Fatah movement early Wednesday, just hours after the sides agreed to a new cease-fire meant to end more than a week of factional fighting.

Fatah officials condemned the killing but said they remained committed to the truce. Gaza City remained calm at midmorning, in contrast to the pitched battles that raged in city streets a day earlier.

However, hundreds of people called for revenge at the policemen's funeral, raising the prospect of renewed fighting.

Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said the policeman, cousins in their early 20s, were killed as they were patrolling Gaza City when their vehicle was attacked. Six other people in the car were wounded, he said.

"They came under fire from an ambush of masked gunmen affiliated with Hamas," Abu Khoussa said.

He said Fatah considered the shooting a violation of the cease-fire, but would still honor the truce, announced just before midnight by President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Fatah is still committed to the agreement and to the announcement by President Abbas last night," he said.

About 300 people attended a funeral for the dead officers Wednesday. Many of the men were armed, shooting in the air and calling for revenge.

At one point, the funeral procession passed by the house of Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, and mourners shouted epithets. Zahar apparently was not in the area at the time.

Hamas' Web site described the fatal shooting as "an intense gunbattle ... between Fatah and the (Hamas) executive unit." It said "the identity and the affiliation of the people killed is still unknown."

Security officials had initially thought the shooting was related to a long-running dispute between two local families and unrelated to the past week of political violence.

Forces loyal to both the ruling Hamas party, and Fatah were seen withdrawing from the streets of Gaza City Tuesday night as the new truce took hold.

"There will be a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza to end all military demonstrations, all shooting will stop and random deployments (of armed men) will end," Abbas said Tuesday night when he announced the truce.

It was the second cease-fire the two sides had agreed to in less than a week. A similar agreement reached Sunday didn't last 12 hours before gunfire shattered the hopes and nerves of violence-weary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, called for an end to Palestinian infighting and urged warring factions to unite in the struggle against Israel.

"This nation, this people will be united in front of the occupation and aggression and will not be engaged, despite the wounds of the past few days, in internal fighting," Haniyeh said in a televised speech.

Fierce gun battles erupted in the streets of Gaza City early Tuesday between Hamas and Fatah forces, leaving at least three people dead and shattering hopes that the truce agreed to Sunday might survive.

At least 18 people were wounded, including five schoolchildren caught in the crossfire of a gunfight, hospital officials said. A Hamas gunman was kidnapped and a top Fatah official's car was attacked by gunfire.

The latest wave of fighting broke out last week, with tensions heightening after Abbas announced plans to call early elections over the weekend. Hamas has condemned the plan as a coup.

Deputy al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, spoke out against the idea of early elections in the Palestinian territories, saying in a video tape broadcast on a pan-Arab satellite channel Wednesday that elections would not lead to "liberation."

Entering the argument over President Abbas's proposal, al-Zawahri said the only way was armed struggle.

"Any way other than holy war, will lead us only to loss and defeat," he said on the tape.

Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, al-Zawahri said: "Those who are trying to liberate the Islamic territories through elections based on secular constitutions, or on decisions to hand over Palestine to the Jews, will not liberate one grain of sand of Palestine."

In his rambling Tuesday speech, Haniyeh reiterated a call for a long-term truce with Israel and formation of a temporary Palestinian state alongside Israel.

He said the truce could last as long as 20 years, after an independent Palestinian state is established in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel rejects a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.

Hamas officials have proposed a long-term truce in the past.

Israel and the international community insist that the militant group fully recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction, has repeatedly rejected that demand.