GAZA (Reuters):

Israel struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip yesterday and threatened more strong action to stop rocket attacks, while Palestinian rival factions fought each other in a turmoil verging on civil war.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction has been accused by Hamas of siding with Israel, called U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and asked her to halt an Israeli "military escalation", a Palestinian news agency said.

A Palestinian hospital official said at least one man was killed and others were wounded when Israeli helicopter gunships fired on them after they launched a rocket into Israel.

minor injuries

The military said it attacked a rocket crew in northern Gaza and that 10 missiles had struck Israel. One hit a house in the town of Sderot. Medics said there were only minor injuries.

Hours later, an Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas-owned van in Gaza City. Two militants were killed, hospital officials said. Three other air strikes wounded three Palestinians, one of them a Hamas man and the others civilians, hospital officials said.

Fatah and Hamas forces, locked in fighting for the past week, battled again in Gaza City. Three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the pro-Hamas Islamic University campus.

militants killed

Two militants - one from each side - were killed, hospital officials said. A fisherman was also killed after being caught in crossfire. Hospital officials said two other civilians died from wounds sustained during internal clashes earlier this week.

Abu Dhabi TV said Hamas gunmen kidnapped its Gaza bureau chief, Abdel Salam Abu Askar. Hamas denied the charge.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, called on Palestinians to unite against "Israeli aggression" and cease internal fighting.

"All members of the security services should abide by the instructions of the political leadership and return to their positions and bases, and also all gunmen should pull out of the streets," Haniyeh told reporters.