Fighting between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah continued Wednesday. At least 17 people were killed on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip in some of the heaviest fighting ever seen between the two groups. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem, the current fighting could doom the Palestinian unity government.
Fighting spread Wednesday from Gaza City to the central portion of the Gaza Strip where Hamas gunmen seized a key Fatah checkpoint on the main north-south road.
Late Tuesday Hamas militants captured a Fatah security compound in Gaza City after heavy fighting. Fatah legislators meeting in the West Bank suspended their participation in the Palestinian unity government. Azzam Ahmed, who heads the Fatah parliamentary faction, says some members of Hamas are against unity.
Ahmed says Fatah will continue to work for Palestinian national unity, but if the fighting does not stop, Fatah will pull out of the government altogether.
Civilians in Gaza spent a third day inside their homes, as businesses, schools and public facilities remained closed. United Nations officials say three of the U.N.'s five food centers and nearly half of its health clinics in Gaza have been shut down.
