The incident was the latest sign of chaos in Gaza, which has suffered growing internal unrest since Israel withdrew last September after 38 years of occupation.

Firing into the air as they ran through the streets, the policemen raided government offices, courthouses, an election office and the municipality building in Rafah.

They smashed windows at the Interior Ministry building and forced the staff to leave.

The number of police taking part in the protest swelled to some 200 officers, most of them armed, who forcibly shut down one government building after the other.

"We are calling on all officers to take off their uniforms because the Palestinian Authority has tied the hands of policemen, preventing us from implementing law and order," one policeman told Reuters.

The police rampage followed the killing of a police officer in fighting with a Rafah clan on Thursday. After that incident, Palestinian police backed by gunmen imposed an armed blockade on the Rafah border crossing and forcibly ejected travellers.

Witnesses said the police did not wear uniforms -- in protest at what they said was the Palestinian Authority's failure to give them the power to restore law and order in Gaza. Some wore masks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed at the weekend that he would work to restore order. Hours afterwards, Palestinian gunmen briefly kidnapped an Italian peace activist and blew up a UN club that served alcohol.