Backed by President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fatah movement, tens of thousands of workers have paralysed the Palestinian Authority across the occupied West Bank.

Government services have been affected in Gaza, a bastion of the Hamas Islamist movement.

Hamas has accused Fatah of orchestrating the strike to topple its six-month-old government, struggling under Western sanctions aimed at forcing the group to recognize Israel. Strikers argue their actions are not politically motivated.

In Ramallah, home to many government departments, newly imported cars cruise the streets without number plates. Motorists cannot renew driving licences. With teachers not showing up for work, school children roam the streets.

Protests

A few hours after the funeral, Mr Siam's father sat with a dozen mourners outside the family home. His son, he explained, had worked at the office of the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas. The morning he was shot, armed men from a new Hamas unit, the Executive Force, clashed with Fatah protesters who were demonstrating about unpaid government salaries. "He was hit by a bullet on the back of his head," said his father, Yusuf, 74. At least 15 people were killed in the clashes last week.

"This is no small thing that is happening. There is no nationalism here. It's just a competition between two forces. I'm sick of both sides because they can't control the situation. We are the victims. The victims are my son and the sons of others."

There have been clashes between Palestinian factions before, particularly in Gaza where clan rivalries are frequently the rule of law. But what distinguishes the troubles this time is the power of Hamas and a worsening economic crisis.

As soon as Hamas formed a government after winning January's elections, Israel withheld $60m (£32m) in monthly tax revenues and the international community halted direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. That, combined with frequent Israeli closures of the crossing points into Gaza, has prompted a severe economic crisis and left hundreds of young men, who have ready access to weapons, without salaries.

The funding freeze came because Hamas refused to meet Israeli and international demands to recognise Israel's right to exist, to renounce violence, and to accept all past peace agreements. Despite the crisis, there is no sign that Hamas is ready to meet those criteria and fading hope that they might agree to a coalition government with Fatah.

Feuding

A year after Israel's withdrawal of settlers from Gaza promised a new future for Palestinians here, the coastal strip is being swallowed up in an internal feud.

As Yusuf Siam stood to greet mourners, a boy arrived with a handful of papers marked from the al-Aqsa Brigade, a Fatah-affiliated militant group, and handed them out. The letter offered condolences to the family and then vowed revenge. "For the families of the people who lost their sons at the hands of Hamas we swear that their blood will not be spilt for nothing," it said. "We will give a lesson to Hamas."

There are signs that this is more serious than rhetorical rivalry between militants. "The Palestinian situation is marred by sharp divisions and battling; it is a misery and shameful for any Arab and any Palestinian," Egypt's foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who has tried to mediate in this crisis, told the Al-Ahram newspaper this week. Some senior Palestinians are openly warning now of the danger of civil war.

In the offices of Palestinian politicians some try to downplay the crisis. "We are not worried about this ... I am confident we will not reach the point of war," said Yehya Mousa, a Hamas MP from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

But in the rival camp, aides to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, are suggesting that he assert his authority, dissolve the Hamas government, and set up an emergency interim administration. This, Mr Mousa said, would be tantamount to a "coup". Hamas leaders see this as Fatah smarting from its election loss and trying to take back power.

Alaa Edin Yaghi, a Fatah MP, said he believed a coalition government was now out of reach and favoured, eventually, replacing the current government with an emergency administration. He wanted Fatah to reinforce its strength on the ground before it takes action.

"We are not ready for a civil war or a hard fight with Hamas," said Mr Yaghi. "It is not reasonable to go into a battle you will lose. But maybe if Hamas starts to feel Fatah is organising itself and getting stronger and seriously thinking of attacking them then they will withdraw and back down."

Fatah and Hamas have been here before. Mr Yaghi once ran a Fatah committee that controlled the Jabiliya refugee camp and rounded up dozens of Hamas militants in a crackdown in the late 1980s. Then in the 1990s there was an official crackdown on Hamas. But now the Islamic movement has gone from being a militant opposition group to running the government. At the same time, Fatah's power has ebbed.

"I think the situation was never worse than this," said Mahmoud Ajrami, a Palestinian foreign ministry official. He argues that any attempt by Mr Abbas to dissolve the Hamas government could trigger a much more serious escalation of violence. "We are running towards a catastrophic end," he said. "I don't see anything but a civil war."

Divided loyalties

- Presidential security An armed force loyal to Mahmoud Abbas of around 4,000, reported to get training and equipment from the west

- Executive force A new police force controlled by interior ministry with 3,000 Hamas members on payroll

- Other armed forces There are dozens of smaller armed units, including the national security force and the civil police and civil defence

- Unofficial armed groups:

Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades The main Hamas armed wing

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Largest Fatah militant group

Popular Resistance Committees Made up of members of Hamas, al-Aqsa Martyrs and Islamic Jihad

Al-Quds Brigade Armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad

There were no reports of casualties in the strike in Gaza on the building of Mariam Farhat, better known as Umm Nidal, who has often voiced pride at the death of three of her six sons during a Palestinian uprising.

In Geneva, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said yesterday the Gaza Strip is on the brink of a "social explosion" that could drive it even deeper into violence.

Egeland said the on-off closure of the Palestinian territory by Israeli authorities due to security concerns was stifling the livelihoods of about 1.5 million mainly young people who live there.

"We are particularly concerned by the situation in Gaza, which is by all accounts a ticking time bomb," the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs told journalists.

"When I call it a time bomb, it means that sooner or later there will be a social explosion which is even worse than the one we have today," he added.

Shebaa farms has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but both Syria and Lebanon claim ownership of the land.

Hizbullah will remain armed and fully operational in south Lebanon, despite the newly deployed UN forces, until Israel withdraws from all Lebanese territory and ceases its air, sea and land violations, Mr Berri said. "The Unifil presence will not hinder Hizbullah's defensive operations. The resistance doesn't need to fly its flags high to operate. It's a guerrilla movement; it operates among the people," he said.

But Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, told journalists last week that the Lebanese army had clear instructions to seize any weapons found in the south. "We reiterate our respect for all those who struggled and fought in the south, but there will be no weapons in the south apart from the army's," he said.

Mr Berri also expressed concern that UN forces could be involved in gathering information that could fall into the hands of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad. "We don't want to interfere in their work, but we will be watching closely. We have to be careful, but we have a very effective intelligence service and we are used to watching for Israeli spies."

He added: "We will help them and give them everything they need to complete their mission but we will not accept the force if its presence is to secure Israel. They are on our land, so that means they have to work in the interests of Lebanon, not Israel."

Lebanon would be "the last of the last Arab nations to sign a peace treaty with Israel", he said, echoing the position of the prime minister.

Mr Berri holds the highest position attainable by a Shia in Lebanon's power-sharing system, made up of a Sunni Muslim prime minister, a Maronite Christian president and a Shia Muslim speaker. He has held the position since 1992 and has been the head of the Amal movement, a Shia party, for more than 26 years.

He said there was concern the foreign troops may stay indefinitely, as security council resolution 1701 does not specify a time frame for the mission. "We hope that when they have done their duty, when Israel has stopped their aggressions and withdrawn from all Lebanese territory, Unifil will go on their way."

Resolution 1701 calls for "security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment ... of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and of Unifil".

In response, the Shin Bet said that it has to balance security considerations against human rights, and noted that terrorist groups have tried to take advantage of Palestinian patients with entry permits in order to carry out attacks inside Israel.

The report, a copy of which was given to Haaretz, claims that the Shin Bet has veto power over all requests by Palestinian patients seeking to enter Israel for medical purposes or to travel from the territories abroad. Many of the requests are turned down on the grounds that the individual is "forbidden entry." That is a classification for Palestinians whom the Shin Bet considers potential threats to national security.

However, it is rare for someone to be tagged as "forbidden entry" because of specific information about that individual. In most cases, the label is based on general profiles of potential terrorists.

The human rights group carried out an analysis of refused entry requests and concluded that the Shin Bet applies very general criteria in its decisions. According to the analysis, those between the ages of 16 and 35, and sometimes 18 and 40, are considered "dangerous." Single men and women, or those who are married but childless, are usually turned down. Anyone with a record of security offenses, even minor ones (i.e. former
prisoners), or with possible motives for revenge (a family member hurt by the Israel Defense Forces), is also turned down, as are students, because universities are described as "hotbeds of terrorism," and AIDS patients (the stigma that the disease carries in Palestinian society opens the patient to blackmail: attack in order to cleanse the family name).

The organization decribes the use of these profiles as collective punishment, and emphasizes that denying medical treatment to Palestinian patients violates their human rights. For some patients, no medical treatment is tantamount to a death sentence.

Even though responsibility for medical services in the territories were transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the Gaza and Jericho agreement of 1994, in practice, the PA cannot meet its population's medical needs, and therefore sends many patients to Israel and Arab countries for treatment.

According to PHR, international law and agreements to which Israel is party require it to provide for the medical needs of the population in the territories. Israel refuses to acknowledge any such legal obligation, but responds to some requests out of "humanitarian concerns." In those cases, Israel charges the Palestinians for the medical treatment.

The report's authors say that the Shin Bet refuses to invest the funds and manpower necessary for more detailed evaluations of Palestinian requests to enter Israel for medical purposes, and as a result, most are automatically turned down. The applicant, who receives a response to his request through the Civil Administration, is never told why the request was turned down, nor is there an easy method of appealing the decision. Many applicants are not even aware that there is a possibility of appealing.

Although hundreds of Palestinian applicants are turned down, the vast majority of those who appeal with the help of PHR are allowed entry into Israel. According to the organization, out of 138 requests it handled last year on behalf of patients who were denied entry permits, 116, or 84 percent, were ultimately approved.

However, whenever the group turns to the High Court of Justice, the state asks the court to treat the case as an exception and avoid making a precedent-setting ruling. And in cases where the state insists on its refusal to allow the petitioner to enter Israel, the court usually upholds this position, on the basis of intelligence that the petitioner is not allowed to see.

The report's authors recommend that the entire method of granting permits be reformed.

According to PHR, "the Shin Bet enjoys secure anonymity that gives it infinite control, which even the High Court has trouble limiting. Denying patients care constitutes torture." The group therefore suggests doing away with the Shin Bet's veto power over requests for entry permits, arguing that the decision in disputed cases should be placed in the hands of an authorized medical professional.

The report also accuses the Shin Bet of trying to exploit Palestinian patients' difficult situations in order to recruit family members as informers, by conditioning permits for medical treatment on a promise to supply information.

The Shin Bet responded that its sole goal is to limit terrorism, and that is the sole criterion for approving or refusing Palestinian requests for entry into Israel. It also maintained that its policies undergo legal scrutiny.

U.N. officials in Geneva, meanwhile, expressed concern about the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip, including the crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

"It cannot continue like it is now without a social explosion that will hurt everybody, including Israeli security," said Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian chief.

The tightened travel restrictions come at a time of continued deadlock - both in efforts to restart an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and a bid by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a more a pragmatic government that is acceptable to the international community.

The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority has reiterated in recent days that it will not recognize Israel or renounce violence - key conditions for the lifting of an international aid boycott.

In Brussels, Belgium, the EU said Wednesday it had given $816 million in aid to the Palestinians this year, bypassing the Hamas government.

EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said a two-day meeting of European experts agreed to expand the aid to cover 60,000 additional people in the Palestinian territories, from the 100,000 currently receiving help through the international fund overseen by the World Bank.

Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, said the United States is prepared to work with any Palestinian government that meets the international demands.

With Hamas refusing to compromise, it should make room for others, Walles said. "They should let another government come in, in some way, and accept the conditions," Walles told Palestinian reporters.

In the current climate, a meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also appeared increasingly unlikely, despite pledges by both a month ago that they are ready to meet without preconditions.

Abbas confidant Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian leader wants concrete achievements in such a meeting, including the release of some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners Israel holds.

However, Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Wednesday that she expects Olmert and Abbas to meet "toward the end of November" despite the current difficulties.

In Jerusalem, the U.N. agency, OCHA, said it has seen an increase of nearly 40 percent in the number of army checkpoints and physical barriers in the West Bank, from 376 in August 2005 to 528 in September of this year.

The West Bank's Jordan Valley is now entirely off limits to Palestinians who are not residents of that area, except for those with permits to work in the valley's Jewish settlements, Shearer said.

Israel is also pushing ahead with the construction of its separation barrier along, and in many areas inside the West Bank. The barrier eventually will run for 437 miles; 252 miles have been completed, including 27 miles in the past five months, Shearer said.

Some 50,000 Palestinians have found themselves on the wrong side of the barrier, meaning they are separated from the rest of the West Bank, Shearer said.

"We are seeing a continuing closing down, locking down of Palestinian areas," he said.

Tight travel restrictions also were in place during the height of the Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2003, when dozens of suicide bombers carried out attacks in Israel.

"Since then it's become much more systematic, much more sophisticated in terms of monitoring Palestinian movement and closing Palestinian movement," he said.

"The West Bank, for example, is effectively being chopped up into three big areas ... and there are pockets within those areas where people also can't move."

Capt. Adam Avidan, spokesman for the military's civil administration in the West Bank, said in a statement that Israel tries "as much as possible to preserve the Palestinians' way of life and to avoid hurting innocent civilians in its war against terrorism."