Palestinian gunmen abducted a Palestinian Authority intelligence officer as he waited for a taxi in Gaza City on Thursday, in retaliation for the arrest of a Hamas militant earlier in the day.

Major Mohammed Abu Siyam was kidnapped at about 11:30 A.M., intelligence officials said.

Abu Abir, a Popular Resistance Committees spokesman, confirmed the militant group was holding Abu Siyam. Abu Abir said said the intelligence officer would not be released until the detained Hamas and PRC-linked militant was freed, and he threatened to kidnap more intelligence officers.

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This kidnapping "will not be the last," he said. "Every intelligence officer should stay at home."

The General Intelligence unit of the Palestinian security forces, a body loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, arrested Hisham Abu Mukhaimar at his home in Gaza City, the PRC said.

Abu Mukhaimar is a member of Hamas' operational force as well as the PRC.

A Palestinian security source said the arrest was linked to the investigation into the killing on Monday of three schoolboys whose father was an intelligence official considered close to Abbas.

Three of the intelligence officers were wounded, including one who was in serious condition, security officials said in a statement. The officials said they arrested the suspect, but declined to confirm that it was Abu Mukhaimar.

The General Intelligence unit would not comment on the arrest.

Because General Intelligence rarely arrest members of militant groups, Thursday's operation was considered significant, political sources said.

Despite the PRC's retaliatory kidnapping, PRC spokesman Abu Mujahid said he supported efforts to bring the children's killer to justice. "Any person found guilty of killing children deserves to be killed in front of the people, even if he belongs to the PRC," he said. "His factional immunity is lifted, and the PRC is ready to help with any investigation."

The killing of the three boys, all aged under 10, has stunned Gaza residents and deepened the divide between the main Palestinian political groups, Fatah and Hamas, raising the prospect of a sharp upsurge in internal violence. Fatah has accused Hamas of responsibility. Hamas denies involvement.

On Wednesday, in apparent retaliation for the killing of the children, a Hamas judge who was also a member of the group's armed wing was shot dead on a street in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, further ratcheting up tensions.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, on a trip to Tehran Sunday, denied deteriorating financial situation and the violent political infighting would not lead to Palestinian civil war. Haniyeh is expected to return to the Gaza Strip on Thursday.