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Fri 06 Jun 2007Hamas overruns Gaza and executes rivalsThe Palestinian quest for an independent state was on the verge of collapse last night after Hamas militants took control of the Gaza Strip, banishing and executing their Fatah rivals and declaring Islamic rule on Israel's doorstep.Fourteen years after the Oslo accords opened up the prospect of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, its putative territory was in danger of breaking into two warring entities as Hamas fighters routed Fatah gunmen at the end of a week of violence that has left almost 100 people, both gunmen and civilians, dead.