(Adds wounded, details)

GAZA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 wounded in Gaza on Wednesday in clashes between Hamas Islamists and a clan loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, hospital officials said.

A Hamas security officer and two members of a clan loyal to the secular Fatah movement were killed in the fighting in Gaza City, the officials said. A second Hamas officer was critically wounded, they said.

Local residents said the fighting started when Hamas security forces tried to arrest one of the clan members.

Witnesses said the Hamas force fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at the clan members holed up in their houses.

The clash is one of the biggest since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip after routing Abbas's forces in a brief civil war in June.

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