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Today in the early morning (CET) a comrade called me from Jabalia (refugee camp/Gaza) and told me that the all-out (civil) war "at least now is beginning". She informed me that "the leadership of Fatah (one part in the Palestinian 'Unity Gov't') is calling all members to attack and kill Hamas (the other part of the Palestinian 'Unity Gov't') militants and politicians.."

Haniyeh's(*) kitchen after Fatah's grenade attack in the morning

About 6 hours later Hamas told the Fatah "fighters" to leave all their positiones immediately. And just one hour ago Hamas "fighters" captured several positions from Fatah threatened to step up the offensive (according to some M.E. media)..

A kind of summary of the latest developments there you can read here:

Hamas attacks Fatah security compound in

northern Gaza (Haaretz, IL)
  
Hamas, stepping up a rapidly expanding power struggle in the Gaza Strip, launched an attack Tuesday on the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in northern Gaza, a key prize in the bloody conflict between the two sides.

About 200 Hamas fighters surrounded the compound, where some 500 Fatah gunmen were holed up. Hamas fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at the building.

"They are attacking from all sides," said one of the officers, Khaled Awad.

Hours earlier, Hamas demanded that security forces allied to the rival Fatah movement abandon their positions, threatening to attack those who remained in their posts.

Hamas-linked radio stations said Hamas fighters had already taken control of security installations in northern and central Gaza, as well as the southern town of Khan Yunis. The claim could not be verified independently.

Also Tuesday, Hamas gunmen seized control of the hospital in Khan Yunis, making it the third medical center to come under Hamas control in two days. Gunmen traded fire at the institution.

Hamas then warned over a mosque loudspeaker that it would attack the headquarters of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza City, which is loyal to Fatah.

"The warning which we have given you to surrender has ended, and we will attack this position of Zionist collaborators, the warning said."

On Monday, the Islamist movement took over Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and another in Beit Hanun, both in the northern Strip. The move was triggered by the killing of Hamas gunmen who had arrived at the hospitals for treatment. Both hospitals saw bloody fighting on Monday.

Israel Radio reported that exchanges of fire had resumed at Shifa Hospital on Tuesday.

The factional violence in Gaza continued unabated Tuesday, as the death toll climbed to 17 in 24 hours, with an attack on the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

Hamas branded the Tuesday strike with a rocket-propelled grenade an assassination attempt. Haniyeh and his family were in the house, but unhurt, in the second attack on his home in as many days.

In Khan Yunis, Hamas controlled the roof of the European Hospital and Fatah-allied security forces took up positions nearby. The two sides traded fire. About 15 children attending a kindergarten in the compound were rushed into the main building, hospital officials said.

On Monday, gun battles also raged at a hospital in northern Gaza and the
strip's main health facility, Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Hamas sources said the organization sent armed men to the hospital for fear that fatah gunmen would try to attack Hamas wounded under treatment there.

* Attack on Haniyeh's house

Describing the attack on Haniyeh's home, his son, Abdel Salam, said an RPG hit the side of the house in the Shati refugee camp, damaging it, while the family was inside. No one was hurt, he said.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused rival Fatah of targeting Palestinian institutions to bring down Hamas. "They crossed all the red lines," he said of Fatah.

Also Tuesday, Hamas said Fatah gunmen kidnapped a member of the Hamas military wing and executed him in the street. The dead man was identified as a cousin of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Earlier in the day, three women and a child were killed when Hamas militants attacked the home of a senior Fatah security official with mortars and grenades, security officials said.

The gunmen seized Hassan Abu Rabi and killed his 14-year-old son and three women in the house, hospital officials said. Also, Fatah gunmen stormed the house of a Hamas lawmaker and burned it to the ground.

The simmering violence, which exploded into bloody clashes Monday morning, turned hospitals into battle grounds and streets into arenas of public execution.

Both Hamas and Fatah, on Web sites and in text messages to activists, called for the execution of the other side's military and political leaders. Both sides described the fighting, which is turning more brutal with each day, as all-out civil war.

The fighting disrupted final exams for university and high school students. The three universities called off final exams set for Tuesday.
High schools were trying to move test centers to areas out of the range of fire, said Mohammed Abu Shkeir, the deputy minister of education.

Fatah official slain in hail of bullets

On Monday night, gunmen thought believed to be from Hamas laid siege to the house of Jamal Abu al-Jediyan, the most senior Fatah official in northern Gaza, then dragged him outside and killed him, security officials said. Medics said he was hit with 45 bullets.

Al-Jediyan was a top aide to Gaza Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan. His brother was also killed, execution-style, by two shots from close range, hospital officials said. Fatah spokesman Maher Mikdad harshly denounced the killing. "What is this, if not a war," he said, pledging revenge.

Two others were killed in battles late Monday in northern Gaza, security and hospital officials said.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said no end was in sight. "You can see for yourself there's no taste for a cease-fire right now," he told The Associated Press by telephone, blaming Hamas.

The frustrated head of the Egyptian security delegation, Major General Burhan Hamad, who has been trying to negotiate a truce, told Palestinian TV he would call the people out onto the streets to protest if the two groups do not agree to stand down.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/870095.html

Related reports/news:
☞ Haneyya survives assassination attempt.. (PIC, Hamas "news")

☞ Abbas responsible for bloodshed in Gaza

☞ Hamas captures key Gaza positions (Guardian/UK)

☞ Hamas fighters in death ultimatum (CNN)