A police officer and a youth were hospitalized Tuesday after Hamas forces clashed with hard-line Islamists in the Gaza Strip, a medical source and witnesses said.
Both men suffered bullet wounds during an attempt by Gaza security forces to arrest two men from a Salafist group, followers of an ultra-conservative form of Islam, a witness said.
The young man, believed to be a Salafist, was in serious condition, while the policeman's condition was not life threatening, the medical source said.
The witness said a grenade was thrown at security forces raiding a house in Al-Fukhari in southern Gaza, sparking clashes.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, is an Islamist party but is frequently criticized by more conservative Islamists, including hard-liners who sympathize with ISIS.
The hard-liners sporadically fire rockets at Israel, prompting retaliation against Hamas targets.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire from Gaza, regardless of who launches it.
In an unrelated incident, a fighter of Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed accidentally.
"Ahmad Mansour, 30 and from Jabalia in northern Gaza, died on Monday night when a grenade exploded by accident," a Qassam statement said.
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