Gunmen in Gaza City gunned down three young sons of a Palestinian intelligence officer in a street packed with children on their way to school on Monday.

Hospital officials said the three children of Baha Balousheh, a loyal supporter of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a member of the Fatah movement, were in a car when the unidentified gunmen opened fire. The children, aged three, six and nine, all died. An adult in the car was also killed.

Palestinians carry the bodies of senior intelligence officer Baha Balousheh's three sons, who were killed in a drive-by shooting attack, during their funeral in Gaza City on Monday.
(Hatem Moussa/Associated Press)

The attack is being described by Palestinian officials as a failed assassination attempt on Balousheh, who was not in the vehicle.

Balousheh served as an interrogator in a crackdown on the militant group Hamas 10 years ago. Hamas is now the ruling party in the Palestinian parliament, while Abbas leads Fatah.

Abbas denounced the shooting, which is expected to raise tensions between the Hamas and Fatah factions in the Palestinian territories.

"This is an ugly and inhuman crime perpetrated by a bunch of lowlifes," Abbas said in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We condemn it vehemently."

Hamas, which denied any involvement in the shooting, also denounced the attack.

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, said it was an "awful, ugly crime against innocent children." He said the gunmen were sabotaging Palestinian interests by causing chaos and confusion.

But Fatah-allied senior officials in the Palestinian intelligence service, allied with Abbas and Fatah, blamed Hamas for the deaths.

Protesters hit the streets

In response to the killing, thousands of Fatah supporters took to Gaza streets in a mass funeral procession for the dead children. People burned tires and blocked roads in protest.

Balousheh, who arrived at the procession surrounded by bodyguards, tried to wipe away tears, the Associated Press reported. Fatah supporters in the procession carried the bodies of his three sons.

"I have no words. Words stop at the extent of this crime," Balousheh told the Associated Press. "I am a father who has lost his children. … This crime is a part of the terrorism which continues on Palestinian streets."

During the procession, Fatah supporters shouted: "God help us take revenge against the killers."

Palestinian hospital officials said the attack also left four people wounded. The car carrying the children was riddled with bullets.

When the shooting occurred, children in the street ran away screaming or fell to the ground to get out of the line of fire.

"I was walking with my young brother, Wael, who is 9, and we just crossed the street in order to take him to the school when shooting took place," Fadwa Nabulsi, 12, told the Associated Press.

"We saw fire coming from one car. We started screaming and children started running. I was crying, and I lost Wael for about half an hour. Then I found him hiding in a falafel shop. I'm trying to find my father to take us back home."

Police tried to calm the children and tried to find their parents. At the same time, hundreds of parents went to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to find out if their children were hurt in the attack.

Killings could jeopardize peace talks

The killings will further drive a wedge between Hamas and Fatah, Israeli observers say, and this will jeopardized Israel's effort to restart long-stalled peace talks with Palestinians.

Talks between Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government already broke down earlier this month, according to Abbas. Israel is not expected to negotiate for peace if there is no unity government in place, observers say.

"It's one of those situations where all Israel can do is wait it out," said Shmuel Sandler, a professor of political science at Bar Ilan University outside Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is offering the Palestinians far-reaching concessions and a state of their own if they choose the path of peace talks.

Analyst Dore Gold, who served as an adviser to former prime minister Ariel Sharon, said that despite Olmert's offers, the Palestinians are not ready for peace talks.

"Until there is orderly government that takes seriously the security commitments the Palestinians undertook in the past and recognizes Israel's right to exist, negotiations might make nice photo opportunities, but would yield no positive results whatsoever," he said.

With files from the Associated Press