The euphemisms are flying fast and furious in this one: One dead as Fatah, Hamas clash.

GAZA (Reuters) - A Palestinian security officer was killed and seven were wounded in clashes between rival Fatah and Hamas factions in Gaza on Thursday, underscoring growing tensions in the impoverished coastal strip.

Earlier on Thursday, thousands of Palestinian security men fired automatic rifles and vandalized the parliament in Gaza in one of the biggest protests over unpaid wages since the Hamas government took office in March.

Medics and a security official said Khader Afana, a Fatah member of the preventative security force, was killed by unknown gunmen in Gaza City. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting.

In further violence on Thursday three more security officers were wounded as their vehicle was attacked in a village east of the town of Khan Younis, the security official said, accusing Hamas of the ambush.

Hamas said the Fatah fighters fired at one of its senior commanders, which prompted them to return fire. A Hamas gunman was slightly hurt in the exchange.