Clashes in Gaza Kill 3, Injure About 50

At least three people were killed and about 50 injured in the Gaza Strip during clashes Sunday between Palestinian security forces and Hamas militants, Palestinian officials said.

The confrontations, which broke out after dark in two neighborhoods near Gaza City, left a Palestinian police officer and two civilian bystanders dead, Palestinian medical officials said. It was the worst violence between Palestinian security forces and militant gunmen since Israel completed its withdrawal from Gaza last month after a 38-year occupation.

There were conflicting reports over how the clashes began. Palestinian officials said gunfire had erupted after officers interceded in a dispute between two men, one a member of Hamas.

But Hamas said its militants had acted when Palestinian officers tried to arrest Mohammed Rantisi, a Hamas official who is the son of slain Hamas leader Abdulaziz Rantisi. The elder Rantisi was killed by an Israeli airstrike last year.

Shooting spread to a second area near Gaza City, but appeared to have quieted by late evening.

The violence highlights the problem of lawlessness plaguing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has opted not to forcefully disarm Hamas. Instead, he has sought to draw the group into the political process.

Last week, the militant groups agreed to adhere to a ban on public displays of weaponry after an explosion during a military-style Hamas rally on Sept. 23 that killed 16 people.

Palestinian officials said Hamas explosives detonated accidentally, but Hamas contended that the blast was the result of an Israeli airstrike. Israel, which routinely acknowledges carrying out air assaults, denied involvement.

Hamas, whose military wing has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis since hostilities broke out in September 2000, plans to run in Palestinian parliamentary elections in January. The group has finished strong in three rounds of municipal elections in Gaza and the West Bank, and it is the most formidable challenger to Abbas’ dominant Fatah organization.

Israel says Hamas, which does not recognize the existence of the Jewish state, should be barred from running in the elections until it disarms.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other leaders have threatened to withhold cooperation with Palestinian officials overseeing elections if Hamas takes part before giving up its weapons.

“We surely cannot do anything about the elections in Gaza, but in the West Bank it will be impossible to hold the elections without our help. We will not let Hamas participate,” Israel’s foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, told Israel Radio on Sunday.

Participation by Hamas creates a dilemma for the Bush administration, which classifies it as a terrorist group but regards elections as a central part of Washington’s effort to promote democracy in the Middle East.

Also Sunday, Israeli defense officials said they were poised to resume an air offensive in the Gaza Strip if militants launched new rocket attacks into communities in southern Israel. The attacks abated last week after several days of retaliatory strikes by Israel that killed four militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and targeted several buildings allegedly used by the groups.

Abbas and Sharon agreed Sunday to meet soon. Abbas telephoned Sharon to offer holiday wishes before the start of the Jewish new year, which begins tonight. The leaders had been scheduled to meet Sunday, but that session was postponed last week amid the flare-up of violence in Gaza between Israelis and Palestinian militants.

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Times special correspondent Fayed abu Shammalah in Gaza City contributed to this report.