Life in the Palestinian Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip is back to normal after the weekend two-day fierce fighting between Hamas security forces and al-Qaida-inspired group militants in the southern town of Rafah, Hamas ministry of interior said on Monday.

Ihab al-Ghussein, the ministry's spokesman in Gaza, said in a printed statement sent to reporters that Gaza "is calm now and the whole situation is under full security control. Now the Gaza Strip is restoring a status of stable security."

The 13,000 security and police forces of Hamas have been on high alert since Friday following bloody fighting against the JundAnsar Allah, or "Warriors of God," a Salafi Jihadi (Sunnite) group, whose leader had announced to establish an Islamic emirate within the Gaza Strip.

The fighting lasted until Saturday, leaving 24 people killed and more than 120 wounded. The group's spiritual leader Sheikh Abdel Latif Mussa, a physician, and his aide and military leader Abu Abdullah al-Souri, better known as Abu Abdullah al-Muhajer, were dead, but it is unclear how they were killed.

Some sources said they were shot dead by Hamas security forces on Saturday mourning, while other sources said they blew themselves up in a house where they were held up on Saturday, before Hamas security forces came to detain them.

The Gaza-based group said on its website Monday that it will soon nominate a new leader after the two-day clashes.

The clashes in Rafah came after Mussa declared during Friday's prayers at the "Iben Taymeyah" mosque in Rafah the establishment of an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip. Armed fighting then broke out around the mosque in al-Barazil neighborhood on Friday.

Gaza-based rights groups have called for "probing into the incidents" and criticized Hamas government for involving its armed wing al-Qassam Brigades in the fighting.

The group, believed to hold the same ideology of the internationally-banned al-Qaida group headed by Osama bin Laden, denied in a statement on its website that it is linked to al-Qaidaor has any radical Islamic expiatory ideology.

Hamas government's interior ministry accused the leaders and the members of the group of having radical Islamic expiatory thoughts that contradicts with the simple rules and doctrines of Islam.

Al-Souri's real name is Khaled Banat, a Palestinian who was born and grew up in Syria. He came to Gaza through one of the tunnels under Gaza-Egypt borders after Hamas seized control of Gaza Strip in June 2007.

The interior ministry of Hamas said al-Souri was responsible for attacking internet cafes, coffee shops and barber shops.

However, the group said in a statement on its website that al-Souri was one of the most wanted for Israel who has a rich biography full of military actions and specialized in bombs making.

"Abu Abdullah worked for Hamas and offered its militants all his experience. He got good ties and contacts with al-Qassam Brigades members," said the statement, which vowed revenge for his death.

"We will revenge for your blood and will turn their (Hamas) wives widows as they made the wives of the Mujahidin widows," said the statement, which denied intentions to attack Hamas security establishments "as they claimed."

"The battle for reinforcing the Islamic Emirate is not over yet, and it will continue until either this state is established as Allah (God) wants, or all of us are killed...," said the group.

But Hamas movement diminished the importance of the group's threats, saying "the situation in the Gaza Strip is secure and stable," following the two-day bloody armed fighting.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2009)