GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The 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 agreement came after a daylong 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 Abbas of inflaming the political crisis by calling for early elections and said his Hamas group would boycott the poll. Abbas, a moderate from Fatah, called for new elections to resolve the political deadlock that has paralyzed the Palestinian government since the hardline Hamas militants won January parliamentary elections.
Hamas' electoral victory split the Palestinian government, with Abbas seeking peace with Israel and Hamas refusing to even recognize the Jewish state's existence. The political tensions have repeatedly turned violent and the chaos has spiraled out of control since unknown gunmen killed the three young sons of a Fatah-allied security chief last week.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_politics
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