Almotamar.net - A Hamas militant has been killed by gunmen in the Gaza Strip despite a fledgling ceasefire in place between feuding members of the Islamist movement and Fatah.

Hamas has blamed a Fatah-dominated security service for the first killing in the territory since a ceasefire went into effect overnight.

Hospital officials in the southern town of Khan Younis said Hussein Shabasi was shot in the head.

A spokesman for Hamas's armed wing said he was killed by the Preventive Security Service, most of whose members belong to President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction.

The security service denied any connection with his death.

The ceasefire had appeared to be holding, bringing people out of their homes for the first time in five days as shops reopened and traffic again clogged Gaza's narrow streets.

Some gunmen remained on the streets in the Gaza Strip and police deployment was limited.

The truce took effect after Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met an aide to Mr Abbas yesterday in a bid to stem a surge of fighting in which at least 30 Palestinians were killed.

The internal violence that began on Thursday was the fiercest since Islamist Hamas, which rejects peace talks with Israel, trounced the more moderate Fatah in an election last year, triggering a Western aid embargo.

The bloodshed has derailed unity government talks between Hamas and Fatah and prompted some Gazan families to flee their homes.

Previous ceasefires, including one last month, have been short-lived.

Shops and schools were shut down over the past five days as the sounds of gun battles echoed across the narrow, densely populated territory where 1.5 million Palestinians live.

Source: Reuters