Palestinian gunmen ambushed a top union leader as he drove in the Gaza Strip on Friday, moderately wounding the man before fleeing in his vehicle, officials and relatives said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting of Ghassem Bayrie, head of the 45,000-member national Palestinian labor union. But Bayrie is a prominent Fatah loyalist in the Gaza Strip and has feuded with the rival Hamas movement in the past.

Palestinian police said Bayrie, 50, was driving in a union minivan with his family when they were ambushed. Bayrie was shot in the leg, and the entire family was forced out of the vehicle before the gunmen sped away.

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Union spokesman Rezek Bayrie, brother of the leader, said the shooting was part of the lawlessness and ongoing anarchy in Gaza. "This is a crime and the authorities and the government must act to end this," he said. "We are not accusing anyone except the enemy of our people."

Bayrie has been an outspoken critic of Hamas and is close to Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan.

During a recent wave of infighting over the winter, Hamas militants attacked union offices and destroyed the union's radio station, accusing it of inciting against the Islamic militant group. Hamas has also accused Bayrie of corruption.

Two militants, boy wounded in factional clashes in Gaza Strip
Hamas and Fatah militants clashed in the Gaza Strip on Friday and at least two militants and a young boy were injured, Palestinian security sources and local residents said.

Tensions are running high in Gaza despite the formation of a unity government on March 17 between the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

Friday's gunbattle in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis left at least one member of Hamas and one member of Fatah injured, local residents and rescue workers said.

A hand grenade that was thrown during the fighting slightly injured a young boy. The house of a Hamas member was also torched.

At least three Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting since the unity government was formed.

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