Wednesday June 13, 5:41 AM     Reuters
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Bloody day in Gaza raises civil war fears*

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - In what looked ever more like civil war, the forces of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas battled supporters of the Islamist
prime minister across Gaza on Tuesday, the bloodiest day of factional
fighting in months.

At least 27 people were killed and 70 wounded, hospital officials said,
taking to 47 the number of dead in the coastal enclave since Saturday.
Early on Tuesday, the Gaza homes of both Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh of Hamas were fired on.

The largest force loyal to Abbas, who is favoured by Western powers, was
ordered onto the streets to defeat what his secular Fatah group called a
"bloody coup" by Hamas Islamists after Hamas gunmen stormed Fatah bases
in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas later appeared to have control of one major Fatah base in the
north and casualty data suggested it had the upper hand more widely.
Fatah leaders threatened to quit a three-month-old unity government with
Hamas if there was no immediate truce.

The European Union said there was an imminent risk of civil war if
fighting went on, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged support
for Abbas's efforts "to restore law and order".

Haniyeh and Abbas both called for restraint and talks but, as each side
accused the other of siding with their Israeli adversaries, there was
little sign of fighters paying heed.

The head of an Egyptian delegation in Gaza that saw its latest truce
shot down on Monday, urged civilians to rally on Wednesday morning to
show support for a new ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an arch-foe of Hamas, said for the
first time that "serious consideration" must be given to posting
international peacekeepers in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew troops
and Jewish settlers two years ago.

"If the Gaza Strip ultimately falls to Hamas, this will be of great
regional significance," he said, but added Israel could not enter Gaza
to fight Hamas to help Abbas's "pragmatists".

BATTLES

Hamas gunmen swept down on Fatah posts, residents said. At one stage,
Hamas fighters gave Fatah forces half an hour to evacuate bases -- an
unprecedented ultimatum.

Intense gunfire and explosions were later heard from a base of Abbas's
National Security Forces in Gaza City. Reinforcements for the NSF moved
in vehicles through the deserted streets.

"Advance!" NSF commanders ordered, as Hamas radio stations were briefly
jammed by music praising Fatah military leaders.

"Confront the seekers of the coup!"

At least 16 people were killed in ensuing evening battles, according to
hospital officials -- including 11 in one clash that Hamas said gave it
control of a major NSF base in the north of the Strip. Hamas officials
said they lost at least nine men while Fatah sources said their losses
were at least 16 dead.

Abbas, successor to Yasser Arafat, convened Fatah's Central Committee in
his West Bank base. It issued a statement saying: "The Central Committee
decided that its ministers will not participate in the government if
there is no ceasefire now."

If they resign, along with some independent ministers, Abbas could fire
the government and try to rule by decree. A new cabinet would need
approval from the Hamas-led parliament.

Most of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants took refuge in their
homes. Crammed into a 45 km (27 mile) sliver of coast and surrounded by
an Israeli security cordon, they have little chance to flee through the
restricted main crossing into Egypt.

"I think we are in Iraq, not in Gaza," Ammar, a 40-year-old father of
six, said. "Snipers on rooftops killing people. Bodies mutilated and
dumped in the streets in very humiliating ways.

"What else does civil war mean but this?"

Since Hamas won an election in January 2006, boosted by its support
among the poor of Gaza, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in
factional fighting, according to one estimate.

After some months of relative calm, fighting flared up again last month
before easing following a truce brokered by Egypt.

The United States has been helping train and arm Abbas's forces, citing
the Fatah leader as a moderate committed to peace and a counterweight to
Hamas, which has ties to Iran and Syria.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and
Adam Entous, Jeffrey Heller, Ori Lewis and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem)