A bomb blast damaged the Gaza home of a bodyguard of Fatah kingpin Mohammed Dahlan Sunday, as gunmen from rival Palestinian factions exchanged fire in a third day of infighting that has killed 22 people.

The sounds of exploding grenades and automatic weapons fire echoed across Gaza City as gunbattles raged, witnesses said. But there were no casualties reported in either the bomb blast or the fighting.

The clashes are the worst among Palestinians since the Islamist Hamas group rose to power a year ago, unseating President Mahmoud Abbas' once dominant Fatah.

Efforts to forge a unity government between the two have so far failed, and the violence has prompted Hamas to call off the latest round of coalition talks.

Hostilities have spiraled since two Hamas security officials were killed on Thursday night in a bombing which the Islamist movement blamed on fighters linked to Fatah.

In the latest skirmishes, Hamas gunmen and members of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Service clashed outside its main headquarters in Gaza, witnesses said.

Snipers took up positions on rooftops as Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire below.

There were also gunbattles outside the headquarters of the Hamas-led police in the city, witnesses said.

Sunday's bombing was the second in five days against a target possibly linked to Dahlan.
 
Hamas supporters have accused Dahlan, tipped as a possible successor to Abbas, of masterminding a plot to kill Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Dahlan denies it and his aides say the charges aim to cover up Hamas failures in government.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian government have all expressed welcome to an offer by Saudi Arabia to host talks among fighting rivals under sponsorship of the Saudi authorities.

A high-ranking Egyptian delegation presented a five-point initiative to the conflicting Palestinian factions, calling for an immediate end of infighting between Palestinian rival movements.

However, the armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas militants show no signs of ceasing, in spite of the intense mediation efforts by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

(China Daily via Agencies, Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2007)