The police chanted slogans to protest the failure of the Palestin-ian Authority to bring the security situation under control, the day after the first deadly internecine clashes in the territory since the departure of Israeli troops three weeks ago. Hundreds of other police fired into the air outside the building in the centre of the city.

The incident came as deputies from Gaza linked up via videoph-one with their colleagues meeting at the parliament's main headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for a debate on the security situation.

The parliament session was briefly interrupted by the incident but the police soon dispersed and the debate resumed.

Police officer Ali Makkawi was killed along with two civilians on Sunday evening in Gaza City in an illustration of escalating tensions between Hamas and the ruling Fatah faction.

The police who burst into the parliament arrived at the building after making their way from paying their respects to Makkawi at his home in the Shatti refugee on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian security services and the Islamic movement Hamas were observing an uneasy truce yesterday after the first deadly internecine clashes in Gaza since Israel left the territory three weeks ago.

Three people, including a police officer were shot dead in Gaza City late Sunday, in an incident that the authorities say was sparked by a mundane dispute over the use of a cash machine.

More than 50 people were also wounded in the clashes, which highlighted the tensions between Hamas and the ruling Fatah faction, which had been trying to put on a display on unity in the aftermath of Israel's September 12 departure from the volatile Gaza Strip.