Man killed in Palestinian clashes

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At least one Palestinian has been killed during clashes in the south of Gaza between members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups.

At least seven people have died in Gaza in the last few days as tensions between the rival factions have spilled over into street battles.

The clashes are the heaviest fighting since the Hamas Islamist movement seized control of Gaza in June.

Reports say mediators have been trying to broker a deal to end the violence.

The AFP news agency has reported that rival groups in Gaza have agreed "completely and immediately end all sources of tension, including withdrawing armed men and lifting checkpoints".

A joint statement seen by AFP said the groups have also decided to appoint a joint commission to "establish why the incidents happened and come up with a radical solution".

Israeli raid

Reuters news agency has reported medical workers as saying four Hamas members were wounded in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza on Sunday night.

An Israeli spokeswoman said the military had carried out an attack on a cell that was planting an explosive device.

The violence erupted last week when the Hamas Executive Force tried to arrest members of the Heles clan, which is allied to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says Hamas has been trying to exert its authority on small clans in Gaza and to suppress the political and militant opposition by Fatah supporters.

However, the tension and animosity towards Hamas from these groups has been growing and intensified by the isolation of Gaza by the outside world, our correspondent says.