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ELIZABETH VARGAS (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Overseas now, to the Middle East. And unusual scenes of joy in the West Bank. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAVID MUIR (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) We're going to take 'a closer look" tonight at the crisis in Gaza. It's been just over a week now since the bloody and violent takeover by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the US and much of the West. This weekend, Arab leaders are traveling to a summit in Egypt to decide how to help the people of Gaza without helping Hamas. It is a dangerous place to visit with threats against western journalists, but this week we passed through the gates to Gaza to meet the families who dare say they want out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAN HARRIS (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) As Wilf reported, President Bush will be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week and the mayhem in Gaza will be the top concerns. Critics of President Bush say he could have averted the current crisis if he hadn't been distracted by the war in Iraq. Here's ABC's John Cochran. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAN HARRIS (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) And we start tonight with a situation in the Palestinian territories that seems to get more chaotic and more dangerous every day. For decades, diplomats have talked about a two-state solution with Israel one day living side by side with a Palestinian state that would be split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But now that the Gaza Strip has been taken over by the radical Islamist group Hamas, and the West Bank is under more moderate leadership, some diplomats are starting to talk about a three-state solution. ABC's Wilf Dinnick tonight on the worsening conditions in Gaza and on one Westerner who is caught right in the middle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS) Good morning, Bill. Good morning, Kate. Good morning, everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Okay. Thanks a lot, Sam. Well, this morning now, we turn to the security of America. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JUJU CHANG (ABC NEWS) Good morning, Diane and Chris. And good morning, everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAVID MUIR (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Also in the Middle East tonight, a new Palestinian government is in place after a week of violence and volatile battles between Palestinian factions in Gaza. A short time ago, the Israeli prime minister had said the new government creates what he calls a new opportunity for peace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHRIS CUOMO (ABC NEWS) All right. Thank you, Diane. And good morning again, everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Over the years, there have been so many reports of fighting in the Palestinian territories, most often between Palestinians and Israelis. But as Wilf pointed out, this is Palestinian against Palestinian. So why does this matter so much in the Middle East and to the United States? Our Dean Reynolds covered the area for many years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Still in the Middle East, we're gonna return tonight to the Gaza Strip, where, as we reported last night, there is fierce street fighting between the Fatah and Hamas Palestinian factions. Today, Hamas fighters appeared to gain ground, though it seems at times that everyone in Gaza is fighting on one side or another. But today, we did see some amazing pictures of courage. Some Palestinians, disgusted by all the violence, simply stepped in front of the guns. ABC's Wilf Dinnick is in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) The Gaza Strip, a critical part of the Middle East, exploded in violence today, the worst day of fighting in weeks between the rival Palestinian factions, that three months ago were proudly proclaiming they would be partners in a unity government. Some unity. If it is not civil war between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions, it is close. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAVID MUIR (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Also in the Middle East, it's been a day of escalating violence in Gaza as Israel killed three Palestinians during a fifth day of air strikes targeting Hamas militants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) In Gaza, this has been the worst day of Palestinian infighting in months. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Also, there is some very encouraging news in the Middle East tonight. The rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, recently fighting with one another, now have agreed to form a unity government and end the attacks against each other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHARLES GIBSON (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) One more item overseas in Gaza. There has been an escalation of fighting between the rival Palestinian factions. A Fatah security official was killed after Hamas forces pounded his home with rockets and grenades. The official had called Palestinian television pleading for help. But the line soon went dead. Tensions are very high in Gaza tonight. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAN HARRIS (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) Two rival groups of Palestinians have cut a deal tonight to try to avert what many fear is a brewing civil war in the Palestinian territories. Three people were killed and more than a dozen wounded today, as members of two rival political parties battled it out in Gaza. Tonight, the two groups, Hamas and Fatah, have reached an agreement to stop the fighting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BILL WEIR (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Also in the Middle East, a dramatic announcement today from the Palestinian president. It is ratcheting up tension there. Faced with a government on the verge of collapse, President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for new elections. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DAN HARRIS (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) In the Middle East today, fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip between two rival Palestinian factions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TERRY MORAN (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Elsewhere in the Middle East now, some very unusual and ominous developments. You know for decades the major story from that troubled part of the world has been fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. That's still going on, of course. But some of the most serious fighting in recent weeks has been among Palestinians themselves. ABC's senior foreign correspondent Jim Sciutto reports from Ramallah in the heart of the Palestinian territories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BOB WOODRUFF (ABC NEWS) (Off-camera) Good morning, Diane. And, you know, the story here is the resurgence of Hamas, it's a group that the US calls a terror organization, but it is absolutely surging in the polls. Many believe that it could actually win a majority of the seats in the Palestinian parliament, the legislative council. And if it does, that could open up major problems for US foreign policy here. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]