Thirteen killed in Gaza battles

At least 13 Palestinians were killed in Gaza yesterday during fighting between rival armed factions, including a gun battle inside a hospital that left three people dead and several injured.

Although Egyptian mediators have arranged several brief ceasefires between the gunmen from the Islamist movement Hamas, which won elections last year, and its rival Fatah, there still appears to be no agreement to halt their battles.

Shooting broke out in Beit Hanoun, in the north of Gaza, with the killing of a Fatah bodyguard and a Hamas fighter. Then armed men stormed into the Beit Hanoun hospital, which was being guarded by Hamas gunmen, and three people were killed, a father and two sons. One was apparently shot from close range. At least 19 others were injured. In Gaza City, two Hamas fighters and a Fatah gunman were killed in clashes, along with a 72-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl, a hospital official said. Earlier, gunmen fired on the offices of Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister and Hamas leader, as he was holding a cabinet meeting. No one was hurt. Gunmen also fired on the home of the sports minister, a Hamas figure and close ally of Mr Haniyeh. No one was injured.

The factional fighting, which Palestinian analysts say is fuelled mostly by a struggle for power, has claimed around 620 lives since Hamas came to power early last year.

Thousands of Palestinian children are due to take their summer exams this month, and mediators had hoped a ceasefire would prevail at least until the exams finished. Some of the exams in Gaza began yesterday, despite the fighting.