Gunfights threaten fragile Gaza cease-fire

Story Highlights

• NEW: Palestinian factions in gunbattle inside Gaza hospital complex
• NEW: Sources say Hamas member slain in hospital gunfight
• Fatah sources say kidnapped senior official released
• Gunbattle injures five Fatah supporters at refugee camp

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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A fragile cease-fire between Palestinian factions in Gaza teetered on the edge of collapse Tuesday after Hamas and pro-Fatah forces battled inside a Gaza City hospital and near the Palestinian presidential compound.

Palestinian security sources said one Hamas fighter was killed and several were wounded in a gunbattle inside the Shifa Hospital complex. The battle pitted pro-Fatah Palestinian Intelligence Service officers against members of the Hamas military wing, the sources said.

The hospital, in north Gaza City, is adjacent to the Palestinian Intelligence Service headquarters, which is under the jurisdiction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Another gunfight took place near the presidential compound, in the south of Gaza City, between Hamas fighters and the presidential guard, the sources said. The Hamas members were connected to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian interior and foreign ministries, the sources said.

Tuesday's violence comes on the hells of a gunbattle Monday at the Jabalya refugee camp and the kidnapping of a senior Fatah official.

Sufian Abu Zeida, a former member of the Palestinian Authority cabinet, was released unharmed a short time later, Fatah said.

The firefight at the refugee camp injured five Fatah supporters, Palestinian security sources said.

The body of another kidnapped member of the group's militant wing was found in the refugee camp, north of Gaza City, according to the sources.

The field commander for Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades had been kidnapped earlier in the day, the sources said.

It is not clear who is behind the attacks, which came a day after Hamas and Fatah agreed to the cease-fire following deadly street battles in Gaza. (Watch streets of violence in Gaza )

Abbas' party, Fatah, and Hamas have fought periodic street battles since Hamas won control of the Palestinian government in January's elections.

The latest wave of violence came after Abbas on Saturday announced he is calling early elections, which his Fatah party hopes to win.

Fighting between Hamas and Fatah has spiked since Thursday, when Prime Minister Ismail Haniya was attacked as he tried to re-enter Gaza with millions of dollars he raised during a tour of neighboring countries.

When Haniya and Hamas took over the Palestinian government in last January's elections it led to sanctions that have crippled the Palestinian economy. The United States, Israel and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

Abbas said Saturday that he did not want Fatah to be part of a Hamas-led government, and said he had the constitutional right to dissolve the government and call new elections. He vowed Palestinians would not be drawn into civil war.

"We need to lift the siege," he said. "Everyone must work together to achieve this objective."

Haniya said early elections would be unconstitutional and that Hamas would not participate, an adviser to the prime minister said.

Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told CNN that elections may not take place before mid-2007.

CNN's Ben Wedeman and journalist Talal Abu-Rahmi contributed to this report.