In Gaza, panicked residents stocked up, fearing growing shortages of food, fuel and other staples as the crossings of the fenced-in strip with Israel and Egypt remained closed. Hundreds of other Gazans rushed to the border crossing with Israel to try to escape Hamas rule, but found gates locked. Israeli troops briefly fired warning shots.Senior officials of Abbas' Fatah movement, who had fled Gaza, started reaching the West Bank. The head of Palestine TV said he had crawled for several hundred yards to evade gunfire at the Gaza-Israel crossing before making it to safety. ``Hamas has always targeted me. Once they fired shots are my car. And they wrote on their Web site that I am broadcasting sedition,'' said Abdel Salam Abu Nada. Recently, he received an ominous text message on his cellphone saying, ``Your punishment is coming.''
Across Gaza, Hamas cemented control. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who has ignored Abbas' order firing him, replaced Fatah security commanders with his own men, and Hamas gunmen rounded up their opponents' weapons. In the southern town of Khan Younis, members of the most powerful local clan refused to hand over their guns, and a firefight erupted. Hamas fighters stormed the homes of clan members, saying they confiscated drugs and a weapons cache.
Two Fatah loyalists were killed Saturday, in what Fatah alleged were revenge killings. Also, the bodies of seven Hamas members were found in the basement of the Preventive Security Service headquarters, a Fatah stronghold captured Thursday, and the bullet-riddled corpse of a Fatah field commander turned up in southern Gaza. More than 100 people were killed a week of clashes.
In the West Bank, gunmen from Abbas' Fatah movement attacked Hamas-run institutions, taking control of the parliament and several government ministries. Chanting ``Hamas Out,'' they planted Fatah and Palestinian flags on rooftops. They attacked Deputy Parliament Speaker Hassan Kreisheh, an independent, and left only after warning that government workers with Hamas ties could not return.