Unidentified gunmen shot at a Hamas militant leader and his family during a car chase through Gaza City on Wednesday, injuring five people, including bystanders and a child, Hamas and hospital officials said.

A sports utility vehicle filled with gunman chased the car carrying Abu Salah Shinbari, a Hamas leader from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, and his wife and two young children, witnesses said. The gunmen jammed Shinbari's sedan against a parked car and then riddled it with at least 10 bullets, they said.

Shinbari's wife was seriously injured, his children were moderately injured and he was lightly injured, hospital officials said. A bystander was also injured.

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"We are investigating this serious incident," said Islam Shwhan, a spokesman for the Hamas militia. "This is part of the ongoing chaos in Gaza, and God willing, we are going to strip the masks away from those criminals."

Militants from Hamas and Fatah repeatedly have fought each other for control of Gaza since Hamas won parliamentary elections last year. About 140 people have been killed in the fighting, which ended in recent weeks after the two sides agreed to form a unity government. Shinbari had been active during the fighting with Fatah.

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