Seven killed as Gaza rivals clash

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Seven Palestinians were killed in a new bout of fighting between rival factions in Gaza, medics said on Tuesday, amid renewed calls for unity after a bloody and divisive year in the Hamas-run territory.

A 12-year-old boy, two other civilians, three Fatah supporters and a member of the Hamas police were killed in exchanges of gunfire during a rally east of the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis on Monday night, medics said.

An Israeli shell killed another Hamas member -- a fighter in the armed wing of the movement -- on Tuesday in central Gaza, making him the first casualty of the Middle East conflict in 2008.

The latest round of fighting was the deadliest exchange between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and the Islamist movement since Hamas-run police opened fire on a mass Fatah rally in November, killing eight people. ...