Unidentified gunmen shot a senior Palestinian security services commander in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian security sources said.
Brigadier-General Tareq Abu Rajab, deputy head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, was shot in the chest as he drove to his office in Gaza City.
One of Abu Rajab's bodyguards was killed and two others injured. Medics said the commander was in a serious condition and undergoing surgery.
There were no immediate clues to the identity of the attackers who opened fire from two cars as Abu Rajab drove to work.
The attack fanned fears of further unrest in Gaza, where chaos has surged ahead of an Israeli plan to withdraw troops and settlers by the end of next year from the territory it has occupied since the 1967 war.