Seven people were killed and more than 100 wounded yesterday when Hamas paramilitary police clashed with Fatah supporters during a massive Gaza City rally marking the third anniversary of Yassir Arafat’s death.

In the worst inter-Palestinian clashes since the Islamist Hamas drove its secular Fatah rivals from the Gaza Strip in June, the self-appointed Hamas police force fired on a demonstration and beat protesters, claiming that Fatah snipers on rooftops had triggered the violence.

The trouble started as Fatah protesters, some of them carrying guns, threw rocks at Hamas policemen and chanted “Shia, Shia!” as they passed police stations, a mark of contempt at Hamas’s backing from Shia Iran.

One Hamas policeman said that the shooting erupted after Fatah demonstrators fired in the air and a spent bullet hit a man in the neck, killing him. In the volatile atmosphere of the march, held amid lingering animosity from the summer’s fighting, the rally quickly descended into chaos.

The Hamas police force had been ordered not to fire unless attacked. “But we were provoked,” said a policeman. “There was an exchange of fire. I can’t say who did what to whom.” As more gunfire rang through the streets and the militia’s policemen started beating demonstrators, ambulances raced through the streets ferrying the wounded to hospital.

At Shifa hospital a boy of about 11 was laid on the floor, bleeding profusely from a head wound. “Is he alive or dead?” yelled his father. “He’s still breathing,” a medic assured him.

A veiled woman whose brother had been badly injured wailed for divine retribution. “Allah will take revenge on Hamas,” she screamed. Doctors pumped her brother’s chest but without success. “Halas, it’s finished,” the doctor said, and the man was taken to the mortuary.

“They killed children in cold blood, they fired on the celebration without any reason,” said Hamad Zaneen, a demonstrator. “Hamas fired for no reason. No one threw a stone at them or spoke to them. Hamas was in the tower above the university and they fired at the celebration.”

Hamas denied the charges. Ihab Abu Ghussein, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman, blamed Fatah gunmen who he said fired from the university roof. Policemen checked demonstrator’s hands to see if they had been throwing rocks, and beat those who had. At least one woman, seen cursing and pushing the police, was set upon by the Hamas enforcers.

The murderous clashes put paid to any hopes the two sides might resume dialogue to reform a unity government that splintered when Hamas launched its June attack against Fatah-led security forces, accused of abuse and corruption.

“There will be no dialogue and no discussions with the killers and coup-makers of Hamas, no dialogue with those who do not believe in dialogue but only understand the language of blood and murder,” said Azzam Ahmed, a senior Fatah official. “I am convinced that the Palestinian people will purge them from their ranks and that the blood of today’s martyrs will be fuel for the resistance against them.”

Last week Mahmoud Zahar, a hard-line Hamas leader, stoked fears that Hamas could try to seize power in the Fatah-controlled West Bank, too.

“Israel says the party in Ramallah [Fatah] serves Israel, and if Israel quits the West Bank, Hamas will take it over. And we say this is true,” he told supporters.

The violence preceded a planned Middle East peace conference to be held in Maryland this month, aimed at reinforcing Hamas’s status as an international pariah. Domestically, the Islamists – who refuse to recognise Israel – face rising opposition, with a new poll showing that almost 68 per-cent of Palestinians back peace talks. Support for Hamas slipped from 29 per cent last summer to 19 per cent, the survey showed.

To give the talks a much-needed boost, Israel hinted that it may release as many as 400 Palestinian prisoners.

“The Prime Minister is aware of the importance of the prisoner release issue to the Palestinians,” Miri Eisin, his spokeswoman, said. The Palestinians had been hoping for a far larger proportion of the 12,000 prisoners to be freed, however. “If it is true, it will be a disappointment for the Palestinian leadership,” said Ashraf Ajrami, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs.

“The Palestinian people [must] see there is a peace process - it is important for us to show the Israelis have goodwill.” The delicate process of reviving the talks after seven years of violence hit another glitch at the weekend when Ahmed Qureia, the former Palestinian Prime Minister and leading peace negotiator, called off a meeting with Israel after being delayed at an Israeli checkpoint.

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