The fighting in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah supporters shows no signs of abating [AFP]

He was handed over to the governor of Nablus on Saturday after the intervention of Fatah leaders.

Hamas had issued a press statement holding Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, personally responsible for any harm that could happen to Ghazal.

The statement identified Gazal as a member of Hamas' political leadership in the West Bank.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, said: "The president of the [Palestinian] Authority bears full responsibility for the abduction of Dr Ghazal".

He said Hamas and the Hamas government in Gaza would not succumb to a "policy of blackmail".

"We warn of the grave repercussions of the abduction of Dr Ghazal and the continued detention" of "hundreds of political prisoners" in the West Bank, Abu Zuhri said.

Kidnap drama

The kidnapping was first reported by Maan news agency, which said that Ghaza's kidnappers had threatened to execute him unless Hamas ended what they called its anti-Fatah campaign.

One abductor, who identified himself as Abu Qusai, the head of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Nablus, said that his group would execute Ghazal within four hours if what he called the Hamas attack on Shijaia neighbourhood and the Hiles family did not stop.

Two Hamas policemen reportedly died when fighting broke out in Gaza City earlier in the day.

Gaza's Hamas-run police said they were attempting to close in on the suspects behind the July 25 bombing.

A medical official said that another 16 people were wounded, including six Hamas policemen who according to a police spokesman were in critical condition.

In apparent retaliation against Hamas's ongoing security sweep targeting Fatah supporters, up to 50 Hamas members, including senior party figures, were detained by the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank over the past week.

'Dangerous development'

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad, a group allied with Hamas, announced that it had begun mediation efforts to stop the fighting and contain the crisis.

Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions have in the past succeeded in defusing Fatah-Hamas tensions. But the present crisis could prove far more difficult to resolve, especially if the Helis clan and its supporters declare a war of retribution.

In other news, Hamas officials shut down a radio station affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a statement by the group said.

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