GAZA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Forty people were wounded in a fierce gun battle between members of the Palestinian Authority's security forces and Islamic militants in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Friday, hospital officials said.
The fighting followed efforts by President Yasser Arafat to rein in militants behind suicide attacks against Israel. Under intense Israeli, U.S. and international pressure, Arafat has arrested dozens of militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Hospital officials said ambulances ferried at least 40 wounded for treatment as gunmen from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups exchanged fire with Palestinian policemen in the refugee camp.
It was not immediately clear whether the wounded were gunmen and police or refugee camp residents.
The battle erupted after the funeral of a Palestinian teenager who was killed on Thursday in fighting between Palestinian security forces and Islamic militants in Jabaliya.