Gunmen from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement fired off guns in a show of force in Gaza on Saturday, defying orders from Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to stay off the streets.
The militants demanded Haniyeh arrest members of a rival group they blamed for deadly clashes in which three people died, violence that has posed a major challenge for group Hamas now in charge of the Palestinian government.
About 300 gunmen shot repeatedly into the air as Fatah strongman Samir al-Mashharawi threatened to take measures if Haniyeh failed to arrest a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a rival group he blamed for Friday's gunbattle.
"We in Fatah will not allow this person to escape punishment," al-Mashharawi said.
Friday's clashes broke out when members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a group that often fires rockets at Israel, accused Palestinian security forces close to Abbas of helping Israel kill a top faction member in a car blast.
Israel's army denied involvement in the explosion.
Haniyeh said on Saturday his government, which beat Abbas's Fatah in a January election and now controls tens of thousands of security officers, had ordered the gunmen involved in the clashes to leave the streets in a bid to end tension.
"What happened was dangerous and must not be repeated," Haniyeh told reporters.