Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and Islamic Hamas movement traded accusations over arresting each other's members in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Over the past couple of days, Hamas arrested eight Fatah activists in Gaza and held them in connection with deadly clashes between Hamas militants and pro-Abbas forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Fatah said in a statement.

Hamas security forces also raided tens of houses of Fatah supporters and members of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) who are based in the Hamas-controlled Gaza, the statement added.

On the other hand, Hamas accused Fatah, which rules the West Bank, of rounding up six of its supporters in the cities of Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron and Qalqilya.

On Sunday and Thursday, Hamas militants and pro-Abbas forces engaged each other in the small city of Qalqilya. The unprecedented gun battles left seven policemen, four Hamas gunmen and a civilian dead.

Tensions between Hamas and Fatah have been rising since Hamas routed the PNA forces and seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Hamas has threatened to boycott Egyptian-sponsored dialogue aimed at reconciling with Fatah following the standoff in Qalqilya.

Source: Xinhua