Palestinian factions battled in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, raising the weekend death toll to at least three and 39 injured. Hours after Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip infiltrated into Israel at a key border crossing, Israeli aircraft bombed a building used by Islamic Jihad, causing two injuries, local residents said.
The heaviest fighting between Hamas and Fatah took place in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where hundreds of rival gunmen took up positions on street corners and rooftops. According to Reuters, Hamas and Fatah pounded each other's positions with rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns, said locals.
Two men from Fatah and one from Hamas were killed, hospital officials said. Of the more than 39 Palestinians wounded in the fighting, at least 9 were in critical condition, hospital officials said.
Hamas said the fighting started on Saturday night when Fatah gunmen shot dead a local Hamas commander in Rafah. Fatah said the fighting commenced when Hamas used rocket-propelled grenades and explosives to destroy the homes of two Fatah members.
