Unidentified gunmen shot dead a judge from the governing Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip today, in an act that is certain to stoke ongoing internal unrest.
Hamas officials and residents said Bassam al-Fara was a judge in a civil court but also a senior member of the faction's armed wing. Four gunmen shot him in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis while Fara was on the way to work, they said.
The attack comes amid spiralling tensions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which Hamas called an "assassination".
Internal tensions have spiked this week following the killing of three young sons of one of Mr Abbas's top intelligence officials in Gaza on Monday.
A senior official from Fatah has said the Hamas government bore responsibility for the unprecedented attack on children. Hamas has angrily denied the movement was involved.
Security forces loyal to Mr Abbas traded gunfire with Hamas policemen in Gaza yesterday, wounding four people.
The main source of the tensions have been the failure of Hamas and the formerly dominant Fatah to form a unity government that Palestinians hope might end a Western aid boycott.
Abbas aides have said he planned to call early elections on Saturday after talks on a unity government foundered. But they said he would still leave the door open to dialogue with Hamas.
Hamas has accused Mr Abbas of trying to topple the government, which came to power after beating Fatah in elections in January.
Unity talks broke down partly over Hamas's rejection of Western demands to recognise Israel.