Gunmen from the Palestinian Fatah faction have seized institutions of the rival Islamic militant group Hamas in the West Bank. Fatah went on the offensive after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip earlier this week. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

Palestinian militants from Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Fatah Movement, stand on roof of Palestinian parliament building after taking it over in Ramallah (16 Jun 07)

The attacks were revenge for the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza this week, in which Fatah security forces were routed.

Independent Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said Fatah must not allow the civil war in Gaza to spill over to the West Bank. "There have been several calls by everybody concerned, by all political leaders, asking for calm and quiet and for public order and not to resort to acts of vengeance," she said.

Palestinian Hamas militant talks on radio in front of a mural showing the late Fatah leader Yasser Arafat outside his former compound in Gaza City (16 Jun 07)

Ashrawi expressed shock, describing the Hamas takeover of Gaza as a coup d'état. "This is a deliberate blow to Palestinian realities, to the Palestinian national agenda," she said, "but it is also a division - dividing Palestine into two entities, Gaza and the West Bank. And this is absolutely drastic. It's disastrous for Palestinian realities."

The United States has expressed support for the West Bank entity headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who supports peace talks with Israel. The U.S. informed Mr. Abbas that it will end a crippling aid embargo on the Palestinians as soon as he forms a new government without Hamas. The U.S. aim is to strengthen Palestinian moderates while weakening the radicals.