Palestinian cease-fire dissolves

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Gunfights between Hamas and Fatah gunmen erupted across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing four people, wounding several others and effectively destroying a three-day truce that brought a brief period of quiet to the volatile area.\nHamas militants fired mortar shells near Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' residence in Gaza City and nearby street battles sent residents fleeing in terror. Some left their cars idling while they sought shelter.\nMasked gunmen took up positions on rooftops, while others took cover in alleyways below. Abbas was not in Gaza at the time.\nThe violence broke out in the central Gaza town of Bureij after Hamas militants hijacked a convoy delivering supplies to the Fatah-allied security forces, security officials said. Security reinforcements were seen flooding into the town.\nSoon after, separate gunbattles broke out in Gaza City and in northern Gaza outside a military intelligence post. Security officials said Hamas militants fired a rocket at the post and then sacked it, injuring five members of the security forces. At least two Hamas supporters were wounded, Hamas officials said.\nA Fatah member was kidnapped in northern Gaza during the clashes, and one security officer was wounded, security officials said.\nMeanwhile, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians and wounded a fifth in violence in the West Bank and along Israel's frontier with Gaza.\nIn Gaza, unknown gunmen opened fire early Thursday at Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum as he drove with three bodyguards in his white sedan toward an impromptu checkpoint near Gaza City, Hamas said. There were no casualties. A Hamas announcement blamed "coup-seekers," meaning militants from the rival Fatah party.\n"This is a violation of the (truce) agreement," Barhoum said. He reported the incident to Egyptian mediators and the gunmen removed their checkpoint, he said.\nLater Thursday, gunmen in a car shot at Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for a Hamas militia, Shahwan said, blaming the shooting on Fatah-affiliated security officers. One Hamas member was wounded, he said.\nOther sporadic shooting attacks were reported Thursday, including one that wounded a Hamas militant.\nThe early incidents didn't unravel the cease-fire, but on Thursday afternoon, Hamas gunmen ambushed an official convoy guarded by the presidential guard and hijacked two trucks filled with tents, medical kits and toilets, security officials said. The United States and some Arab countries had pledged to give equipment and training to the security forces loyal to Abbas.