A senior adviser to the Palestinian government has been abducted in the Gaza Strip, officials have said.

Omar al-Ghoul, who advises Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, was taken from his home in Gaza at about 4am (0200 GMT) on Friday by armed men wearing civilian clothes, relatives said.

Al-Ghoul's seizure is the highest-profile abduction since rival Hamas forces took control of the Gaza Strip in June after defeating Fatah.

Hamas officials were not available for comment on the abduction and there has been no claim of responsibility.

Al-Ghoul was in Gaza to attend the funeral of his mother-in law.

He writes columns for local newspapers and has frequently criticized Hamas.

Also on Friday, two people died in an explosion at a funeral procession in Gaza City, hospital officials told the Associated Press.

Thirty people were also injured in the blast during the funeral of a Fatah member, who died in an Israeli air raid on Thursday.

The source of the blast was unknown but Hamas security officials said someone at the funeral threw a pipebomb at the edges of the procession, which then bounced back into the crowd.

Gunfire and the setting off of fireworks are common forms of commemoration at funerals in Gaza.

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Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister