Three children and an adult have been killed and four people wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Rimal district of Gaza City.

 As children were going to school, armed men fired on a car killing three of the children of Baha Balousheh, a senior Palestinian intelligence officer and Fatah loyalist.

 There were no claims of responsibility.

 The boys were aged between six and eight. An adult was also killed.

 Fadwa Nabulsi, 12, who witnessed the scene, said: "I was walking with my young brother, Wael, when shooting took place... We started screaming and children started running.

"I lost Wael ... but I found him hiding in a falafel shop. I'm trying to find my father to take us back home."

Palestinian police tried to calm children at the scene. After news of the shooting spread, hundreds of parents went to Gaza City's Shifa hospital.

After the incident, Fatah supporters tried to close Palestine Street, which has nine schools on it, shouting: "God help us take revenge against the killers."

While Gaza has regularly suffered violence, a direct attack on children is unprecedented.

Tension in Gaza has heightened in recent weeks after Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, raised the possibility of calling early parliamentary and presidential elections.

Many in the Hamas-led government have said Abbas does not have the authority to dissolve parliament.

The European Union and the US suspended all direct aid to the Palestinian government after the Hamas-led administration was elected in March.

Photo Caption

Palestinian security officers inspect the car hit in the attack