Dozens of Hamas gunmen today rushed to the aid of a Cabinet minister after he was confronted by angry gunmen, sparking a shoot-out that left three people wounded in the latest explosion of infighting in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas put himself on a collision course with Hamas after blocking the party’s plan to set up a security force of 4,000 militants.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today vetoed a decision by Hamas to appoint a top militant as a security chief, two of his aides said.

The entire Palestinian Cabinet could be targeted for assassination after the Hamas-led government appointed a wanted militant as head of a new Palestinian security force, an Israeli politician and former intelligence chief said today.

The Palestinian interior minister, Said Siyam of Hamas, pledged that the new government will pacify the chaotic Gaza Strip after a weekend of deadly violence between rival groups, but he appealed for patience.

Deadly factional fighting in Gaza has created a “dangerous” situation, the Palestinian prime minister said today, adding that his security forces would try to get gunmen off the streets.

A Palestinian militant with ties to Hamas was killed yesterday in a car bomb in Gaza, unleashing factional unrest that left three others dead and 35 wounded, in the first direct threat to the Islamic group’s new government.

A PALESTINIAN militant with ties to Hamas was killed in a car bomb yesterday, unleashing factional unrest that left three others dead and more than 20 wounded - in the first direct threat to the Islamic group’s new government.