MB Civic

JERUSALEM, June 14 — Palestinian civil servants stormed the parliament building in the West Bank on Wednesday demanding back pay and chanting “We are hungry!”

Fistfights broke out as protesters hurled plastic water bottles at legislators from Hamas, the militant group that controls parliament, forcing the speaker to flee the building.

It was the second violent protest this week at parliament, in Ramallah, and underscored growing pressure on the Hamas government on several fronts.

Much of the Western aid that had been used to run the Palestinian Authority has been withheld since Hamas took over the government after winning January elections. Many Muslim nations had pledged their support, but international banks, most tied to the American system, have refused to transfer money from other donors.

So on Wednesday, the Hamas foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, crossed over into Gaza from Egypt carrying what Palestinian officials said was $20 million in cash in his suitcases. He was returning from a long trip to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt.

Hamas, responsible for many of the deadliest suicide attacks against Israel, has refused to renounce violence or recognize the Israeli state since it won control of parliament in January.

Though a substantial sum, the $20 million is a fraction of $120 million the Palestinian Authority needs each month just for the salaries of its 165,000 employees, most of whom have not been paid for four months. Its current budget would require an additional $45 million for all costs other than salaries.

A power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, the party it ousted from power, continues to worsen. About two dozen people have been killed in recent weeks in factional fighting, including a Hamas gunman in southern Gaza on Wednesday. The protesters at the parliament, which was also attacked Monday night along with two cabinet buildings, were reported largely to be loyal to Fatah.

“We deplore and regret these incidents,” Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and a top Hamas leader, said after the death of the gunman, The Associated Press reported. “The government is going to carry out its responsibilities along with the security branches in order to maintain law and order.”

To defuse the tensions, Mr. Haniya and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, have agreed to a series of talks, which continued on Wednesday.

Mr. Abbas, a moderate, has been pressing Hamas to accept even implicit recognition of Israel, a move aimed at freeing up foreign money and restarting peace talks with Israel. Barring that, Mr. Abbas has said he will schedule a referendum next month calling for a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders, a proposal that polls indicate most Palestinians support.

Hamas’s leadership strongly opposes the referendum as illegal and an effort to undermine the party’s election victory.

But there were indications on Wednesday that the two sides might have made progress on the difficult question of the Hamas militia, which is still outside government control. Fatah officials said Hamas had agreed to steps to integrate about 3,000 fighters into the security forces, though no timetable was given. Hamas has already agreed in principle to such a move.

Mr. Zahar was allowed to bring his cash into Gaza on Wednesday. Since the international banks refused to transfer funds to the Palestinians, at least two other Hamas leaders have been stopped at the border between Egypt and Gaza carrying large amounts of cash.

The earlier shipments, totaling some $5 million, had been confiscated but then released, supposedly to the Palestinian government. Some employees received part of their back pay a week ago, but some Palestinians suggested that the money might not have gone to the Finance Ministry but instead was used by Hamas to pay its loyalists.

The conflict between Palestinians and the Israeli military was largely quiet on Wednesday. The Israeli military reported that Palestinians had fired a rocket toward Israel from Gaza, but that it landed in the desert without hitting anyone.

In recent months, the number of rocket attacks has increased significantly, to nearly 100 this month alone. Last week, during an Israeli retaliatory attack, seven members of a Palestinian family were killed on a beach in Gaza, causing Hamas to call off its 16-month truce.

On Tuesday, however, the Israeli military contended that an internal investigation showed its munitions had not been responsible, a finding rejected by the Palestinians.

The deaths, and 10 more in Gaza on Tuesday, among them 8 civilians, came at a sensitive time, as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made his first trip in office to Europe. He met Wednesday with President Jacques Chirac of France, trying to persuade Mr. Chirac to accept Israeli plans to withdraw unilaterally from parts of the West Bank in the absence of a peace with the Palestinians.

“The realignment plan is inevitable,” he told reporters in France. “It will be implemented.”