The simmering conflict between Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian movements, has again burst into the open, after a deadly car bomb attack in the Gaza Strip sparked sharp recriminations and hundreds of arrests on both sides.

Hamas, the Islamist group that took control of the Gaza Strip last year, arrested about 200 Fatah members in the coastal territory over the weekend. It blamed the party of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, for a blast on -Friday night that killed five Hamas members and a young girl in Gaza City.