Abbas warns of 'collapse'

Story Highlights

• NEW: 2 U.N. workers killed; agency scales back operations
• NEW: Gunmen fire on peace demonstrators, killing one, Gaza hospital officials say
• NEW: U.S. State Department calls on regional leaders to support Abbas
• Human Rights Watch accuses militants of "war crimes"

Adjust font size:

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- The Palestinian President warned of possible collapse in Gaza as Hamas launched new attacks on Palestinian Authority security forces in the south Wednesday after declaring northern Gaza a "closed military area."

Up to 70 Palestinians have died during the past three days in battles between Hamas, which controls the Palestinian Authority's parliament, and gunmen and police units controlled by Abbas' Fatah movement.

Two of the dead were Palestinian workers for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which provides humanitarian relief to nearly a million Palestinians in Gaza. The killings forced the organization to scale back operations.

The largest single death toll came when Hamas militants bombed a tunnel beneath the Fatah-controlled Preventive Security Service headquarters compound in Khan Younis Wednesday, killing 11 members of the Fatah unit, Palestinian security sources told CNN.

Hamas quickly declared complete control of the compound, the security sources said.

On Tuesday Hamas overran Fatah positions in northern Gaza and declared all villages and towns north of Gaza City -- including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp -- a closed military area.

Gunmen could be seen perched on buildings, forcing residents to cower in their homes, the sources said. (Watch as situation in Gaza deteriorates on the street level )

Hamas militants addressed residents over mosque loudspeakers Wednesday, declaring the region a military zone and demanding residents hand over their weapons to Hamas by 7 p.m. Friday (2 a.m. Saturday ET).

Meanwhile, gunmen in Gaza City opened fire on Palestinian demonstrators who were demanding an end to the bloodshed, killing one and sending dozens scrambling for cover, Gaza hospital officials said.

The head of the Egyptian delegation to Gaza seeking to broker a lasting truce between Hamas and Fatah fighters was at the demonstration but was not injured.

Both sides have ignored Abbas' call for a cease-fire, and he blamed both sides for the escalation Wednesday.

"This is madness, the madness that is going on in Gaza now," he said in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority. "Everyone who carries weapons, who shoots and attacks is responsible. Everyone must stop it." (Watch as fears grow that violence will spread to the West Bank )

He said that he would continue to work toward an end to the fighting, warning, "Otherwise, I think that the situation in Gaza will be brought to a collapse," he warned.

In addition, Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused the armed groups of "serious violations of international humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes." Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director, also expressed concern about Palestinian militants disguising themselves as journalists in order to launch an attack on Israeli soldiers on Saturday.

"Using a vehicle with press markings to carry out a military attack is a serious violation of the laws of war, and it also puts journalists at risk," she said.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman said Israel put the "TV" insignia on the jeep used by the militants, but photos taken by The Associated Press showed the letters were on the front of the vehicle during the attack, according to HRW.

U.S. reaction

In Washington, the U.S. State Department criticized Hamas for attacking "legitimate security institutions" in a bid to undermine Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and urged regional leaders to support Abbas. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington is concerned about Abbas' authority but noted that the violence has not spread to the West Bank.

The United States provides about $60 million to the Palestinian Authority to beef up Abbas' forces in his struggle against Hamas, the Islamic party that won control of the Palestinian parliament and government in January 2006 elections.

"We have called on others in the region to express their support for President Abbas and those Palestinian moderate political elements who have forsworn the use of violence and who have an interest in reaching a political settlement with Israel via the negotiating table," McCormack said. "We're going to continue to support those elements, and we're going to continue to support President Abbas."

Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a unity government earlier this year in an effort to stop clashes and resume the flow of international aid that was cut off after Hamas took power. Hamas has refused to renounce violence or recognize Israel's right to exist, and Israel and the United States, who consider it a terrorist organization, have accused it of receiving weapons from Iran.

The Fatah Central Committee voted on Tuesday night to suspend its participation in the Hamas-led unity government if the fighting continues. But Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziyad Mahmoud Abu Amr, an independent, called that "just speculation."

"Fatah so far has not decided what to do with Hamas," he said.

Over the weekend, a Fatah supporter was kidnapped and tossed off a high-rise building to his death. Hours later, in an apparent reprisal attack, a Hamas supporter was killed in the same manner.

CNN's Avivit Dalgoshen contributed to this report.