GAZA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Three Palestinians were killed in clashes between rival clans in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in the most intense violence since a coalition deal was reached this month between Fatah and Hamas factions, residents said. They said a Palestinian, who belonged to the Islamist Hamas movement, was shot and killed by gunmen from a rival clan amid a family feud in the early hours of Saturday. The killing triggered a clash in which a member of the rival clan, who was a Fatah supporter, was killed. A bystander was also killed in the fighting, which also wounded 10 members of the two families. Both families said the fighting was an internal dispute and was not motivated by political rivalries. Security forces did not intervene in the gun battles, which took place in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, residents said. Earlier this month Fatah and Hamas agreed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to forge a Palestinian national unity government. Palestinians hope the coalition deal, which ended weeks of fighting between Hamas and Fatah in which more than 90 people died, can avert a Palestinian civil war.
