West Bank fighting kills six Palestinians

Six people have been killed in a West Bank clash between Hamas fighters and Palestinian policemen, officials say. Three policemen, two members of Hamas and another man were killed in a gun battle when police went to arrest the Hamas men in a dawn raid in Qalqilya. Officials said the police were loyal to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, of rival group Fatah. It is one of the worst clashes in the West Bank since Hamas seized control in the Gaza Strip in 2007. The owner of a home in which Hamas gunmen had been hiding was also killed, Palestinian security officials said, according to Reuters news agency. Factional tension The Hamas men had ignored calls to surrender, witnesses told Reuters. Hamas responded to the shooting with a statement from Gaza denouncing Mr Abbas's forces as "Zionist agents". "Their crackdown against and pursuit of wanted men with the help of the enemy (Israel) lays down the foundation for resistance" by Hamas, Reuters reported the group as saying. Inter-factional fighting in Gaza came to a head in the summer of 2007 when Hamas fighters ousted the pro-Fatah security forces and overthrew Palestinian Authority control. As well as continued tension, both sides have been accused of conducting politically motivated arrests and the torture of rival faction members . Solving Fatah-Hamas differences is seen as an essential step if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is to happen. While Fatah has renounced violence, Hamas refuses to recognise Israel. Hamas is prepared to accept a short-term truce but it reserves the right to fight Israel.