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14 dead in Gaza violence

Mahmoud Abbas - Worsening violence
Mahmoud Abbas - Worsening violence

At least 14 people have been killed in ongoing factional violence in Gaza.

A total of 38 people have now been killed in clashes between Hamas and Fatah since Sunday, casting doubts on the future of the fragile unity government.

The violence has prompted deep concern in the region and elsewhere, with the German Presidency of the EU calling on Palestinian leaders to reign in their forces.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has warned that the continuing unrest between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas movement would rebound 'on the future of Palestine'.

He warned both sides that Israel would be the only beneficiary of the fighting.

The majority of those killed have been Fatah members, with eight dying in a single mortar attack on a building housing the offices of the Palestinian security chief this morning.

The latest deaths came despite a truce which was supposed to have taken effect at midnight and calls for President Abbas to declare a state of emergency.

And in a move that threatens to worsen the conflict in the territory, Israeli aircraft bombed a training camp operated by Hamas overnight, leaving two Palestinians dead.

Another 30 people were wounded in the bombing, which the Israeli military said was aimed at the 'executive force' of the Islamist movement.

Gaza militants have been launching rockets against Israel since the start of the latest bout of Palestinian infighting on Sunday, with 23 landing inside the Jewish state.