PALESTINE - Jan 27 - Palestinian Factions Renew Gaza Fighting.

Palestinian factions battle again in the streets of Gaza City, despite a renewed plea by PM Ismail Haniya for a halt to internecine fighting that has left more than 20 dead and dozens wounded since erupting four days ago. "We call on all the Palestinian people to protect national unity, to make the language of dialogue and reason prevail, to withdraw weapons from the streets", Haniya said at an emergency session of the Palestinian cabinet in Gaza City. But the calls for calm by Haniya, of Hamas, and Pres Mahmoud Abbas, of the rival Fatah faction, have gone unheeded. The clashes also forced a breakdown in the latest round of talks about forming a unity government. Gunmen from the two sides exchanged fire throughout the day in several Gaza City neighbourhoods, prompting residents in some of the hardest hit areas to flee to the homes of relatives in less volatile areas. A bomb exploded outside the front door of a home belonging to a bodyguard for Muhammad Dahlan, a senior Fatah figure and an ally of Abbas. No one was hurt in the blast. Also, Fatah blamed Hamas for mortar and anti-tank rounds that were fired at the police headquarters in Gaza City, which is controlled by Fatah. Many shops were closed and the streets were largely empty as the factions put up concrete barriers to block some roads. Both Hamas and Fatah said that members of their groups had been kidnapped by the other side, a tactic that has become commonplace, though many of those seized are later released unharmed. The latest deaths included those of a 12-year-old boy killed late Jan 27, two Hamas militants killed overnight and one Fatah fighter who died of wounds suffered previously, Palestinian hospital officials said Jan 28. The violence spread to Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, where several Hamas members were seized in two separate kidnappings, one at the city's Education Ministry and the other at a bank, Palestinian security officials said. At the bank, the gunmen seized a local Hamas leader, Fayyad al-Arba, as photographers and cameramen recorded the abduction. The Palestinian factions have battled periodically in recent years, and there was a sharp rise in tensions after Hamas defeated Fatah in parliamentary elections a year ago. Months of negotiations failed to produce a unity government, and the internecine violence became an almost daily event in December. After a period of relative calm earlier this month, the gun battles broke out again in the past week. More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past two months, while there also have been sporadic clashes in the West Bank. Abbas has said on several occasions that he would propose early elections if the factions could not reach agreement on a unity government. But holding elections would be extremely difficult at a time when the PA is broke and political tensions are boiling over. While Israel supports Abbas and refuses to deal with Hamas, Israel has sought to avoid direct involvement in the internal Palestinian fighting. But some Israeli politicians are warning that the Palestinian infighting could create problems for Israel. "We cannot allow anarchy such as this, because in the end what will come out of this could act as a boomerang on us", Zeev Boim, a cabinet minister, said on Israel radio. "If Hamas will get the upper hand in Gaza, it will be a clear sign that Israel has to act". In Israeli politics, the cabinet approved the country's first Arab minister, Ghaleb Majadle, who said he would seek to help Israel's Arab citizens identify more with the state. "The first step has been taken and this has given Israeli Arabs a feeling of belonging", Majadle, who will be a minister without portfolio, told army radio. The center-left Labor Party nominated Majadle for a cabinet post after one of its members quit the government. Some rightist politicians have spoken out against bringing an Arab into the cabinet, but Majadle won overwhelming approval in the cabinet vote Jan 28. Israeli Arabs account for about 1.2m of Israel's seven million people. They are represented in Parliament and are better off economically than Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. But the Israeli Arabs complain of discrimination in Israel. In 2001, an Israeli Druse became the first non-Jewish member of the cabinet.