Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas reached a tentative cease-fire Sunday to end days of bloody fighting that had raised tensions in the Gaza Strip to their highest point in a decade, mediators said.
The deal came after a day-long wave of factional violence that killed three people. Armed militants continued to patrol the streets after the truce was announced, making it uncertain whether it would hold.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has accused President Mahmoud Abbas of inflaming the political crisis by calling for early elections and said his Hamas group would boycott the vote.
Abbas, a moderate from Fatah, called for new elections to resolve the political deadlock that has paralyzed the Palestinian government since hardline Hamas militants won January parliamentary elections. The victory split the Palestinian government, with Abbas seeking peace with Israel and Hamas refusing to even recognize the Jewish state’s existence.
The tensions have repeatedly turned violent, and the chaos has spiraled out of control since gunmen killed three children of a Fatah-allied security chief last week.
Egyptian mediators and small Palestinian factions worked all day to broker a deal, and a truce was announced at a news conference after midnight.
