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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called for early elections in an escalating power struggle with the ruling Hamas movement, which warned the move could ignite civil war and called thousands of its supporters out on to the streets.
A 13-year-old boy was shot dead after being caught up in a gunfight between rival factions in the Gaza Strip, where armed supporters of both Hamas and Fatah were out in force, some in masks, waving flags and chanting.
At least 18 people were also reported wounded as gunmen traded fire across Gaza, underscoring the highly-charged atmosphere after Abbas issued his challenge to Hamas.
Abbas said elections were the way to resolve the standoff which has paralyzed Palestinian government since the Islamists took office in March after a shock election win, triggering a Western aid freeze.
“We are living through difficult and miserable times… To break the vicious circle and prevent our lives from deteriorating further and our cause from eroding, I have decided to call early presidential and legislative elections,” Abbas said.
“Let the people have their say and decide.”
He also left the the door open to forming a government of national unity with Hamas and avoiding polls, which would be only the third election in the territories since the formation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994.
Abbas, whose once-dominant Fatah party was trounced by Hamas in January elections, said a unity government composed of technocrats remained “the first priority.”
But Hamas rejected the call, saying it was “a coup d'etat against the will of the Palestinian people.”
“Today what we have heard from Abu Mazen is a call, which if God willing we will try to avoid, for a civil war,” said Ahmed Yussef, a senior Hamas official.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a tour of the Middle East, urged the world to rally behind Abbas. The United States said it hoped the election would help quell violence in the region and Israel said it supported the moderate Palestinian president.
Abbas's call came after a week of mounting tensions and violence between Fatah and Hamas, and followed the collapse of months of talks on forming a unity government.
On Friday, Hamas accused Fatah loyalists of targeting premier Ismail Haniya after his convoy came under fire in southern Gaza on his return from a regional fundraising tour, killing his bodyguard and injuring one of his sons.
In recent days, a Hamas judge and three young sons of a senior Fatah loyalist have also been killed.
The unity government talks failed over Hamas's refusal to bend to Western demands that it renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept past peace deals, and over allocation of key ministerial posts.
The West considers Hamas a terrorist organization and froze direct aid to the Palestinian government after it took office, plunging the territories into unprecedented financial crisis.
Senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said the elections will take place “between now and three months.”
Palestinian basic law, however, does not address the issue of early elections. The current parliament is due to remain until the end of 2010.
Hamas says the absence of such a provision prohibits holding an early poll, while the Abbas camp says it can be held since there is nothing specifically prohibiting a vote.
But Hamas vowed to fight the move and urged its supporters to take to the the streets.
“Oh, Abu Mazen, oh spy!” chanted Hamas supporters, calling Abbas by his widely-used monicker, as rival groups gathered in the Gaza Strip. “No, a hundred times not to early elections!”
Palestinian militant groups exiled in Syria also slammed the poll order as illegal, warning that the recent internecine attacks were “meant to sow sedition.”
Abbas, who has been president since early 2005 following the death of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, vowed to prevent the territories descending into civil war.
“Despite the suffering, the pain, the confrontations, whoever is responsible for them, we will not allow ourselves to sink into a civil war,” Abbas said. “Palestinian blood will remain a border that will not be crossed.”
In Cairo, Blair hailed Abbas's move as “a strong sign that the Palestinian president is seeking a way out of the deadlock in the peace process.”
“This is the moment for the international community to come behind him, to help him build his authority and his capability to deliver improvements in the living standards of the Palestinian people but also progress that we all want to see in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue,” he said.
A White House spokeswoman said Washington hoped “this helps bring the violence to an end and the formation of a Palestinian Authority committed to the Quartet principles” of recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and agreeing to past peace deals.
An Israeli spokeswoman said the government “supports moderate Palestinians who manage to negotiate with Israel without resorting to violence. Abu Mazen is this type of leader.”
