PALESTINE - May 9 - Second Day Of Clashes In Gaza Despite Appeals For Calm.

Nine people, including five schoolchildren, are wounded in Gaza City as Fatah and Hamas militants clashed for the second day, despite calls for calm from leaders of the two Palestinian factions. Each side blamed the other for the exchange of fire between Hamas gunmen and bodyguards protecting the home of Samir Masharawi, a Fatah leader close to Mohammad Dahlan, the party's Gaza strongman. As on May 8, when three men were killed in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, each accused the other of sparking the violence by kidnapping members of the rival group. Ismail Haniyeh, the PA's Hamas PM, responded to May 8 clash with an appeal for calm. "We must show self-restraint, end all displays of arms, and employ only dialogue", he said. Dahlan, a former security minister and a Fatah parliamentarian, said all parties should "adopt the language of dialogue to avoid bringing more pain and ordeal to the Palestinian people". There has been friction between the two parties since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January, ending Fatah's monopoly on power. The tension was fuelled by the failure of talks to create a unity government and the looming economic crisis. It was exacerbated last month by remarks from Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas leader, that Fatah was plotting to remove the new government. Recent incidents have frequently stemmed from local clan disputes that have turned into political conflict. Shots were also fired in Gaza City in a dispute between Fatah security men and the bodyguards of two Hamas officials after their car was stopped at a roadblock. The security men involved belonged to the Preventive Security force, loyal to Fatah and formerly headed by Dahlan, whose members were also involved in the earlier clashes. Four people were also injured outside Gaza City when further clashes erupted after the funeral of two Fatah militants killed in May 8 Khan Younis clash. Fatah officials allege that Hamas preachers routinely incite against Fatah leaders at mosques in Gaza to take attention away from the Islamic movement's failure to tackle the economic crisis brought on by international sanctions against it. "They are trying to hang their mistakes on others by accusing Fatah of conspiring with outsiders", Alaa Yaghi, a Fatah parliamentarian, told the FT. Khalil Abu Leila, a Hamas leader, said the movement had no interest in an internal conflict from which only Israel could benefit". They are people who have an interest in promoting infighting while Hamas faces such a difficult situation", he said.