Unidentified gunmen shot at the Palestinian interior minister's convoy in the Gaza Strip today amid growing tension between the governing Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas
Interior Minister Saeed Seyam, a senior Hamas leader, escaped unharmed, the ministry said. A Palestinian security patrol later arrested four men suspected of carrying out the shooting, officials said.
They gave no details of the suspects' affiliation. Tension has been rising over the failure of Hamas and Mr Abbas's Fatah faction to form a unity government that Palestinians had hoped would end a crippling Western boycott against the Hamas administration.
Aides to Mr Abbas said yesterday that the president planned to call early elections after unity talks foundered. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh accused Mr Abbas of trying to topple his government, which came to power after Hamas defeated Mr Abbas's long dominant Fatah movement in elections in January, and said fresh polls would worsen unrest.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said the minister's convoy had been shot at in Gaza City, and guards had chased and shot at the perpetrators, but nobody had been hurt. He called the shooting "a result of the latest inflammatory statements against the government".