GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haneya, who is also a senior Hamas leader, rejected on Saturday President Mahmoud Abbas' statement that the Hamas-controlled Auxiliary Forces in Gaza were illegal.

    Haneya told reporters that the Auxiliary Forces were legal and part of security system that belongs to the Interior Ministry.

    A spokesman for Interior Ministry also termed Abbas' decision as hasty, adding that it was backed by a "revolutionary stream" which provokes Abbas to dismiss the Hamas-led government.

    He also warned of grave consequence if the troops came under fire, saying that the Auxiliary Forces would reply hard to any attack against its members in the wake of Abbas' decision.

    Earlier, Abbas declared that the Auxiliary Forces in the Gaza Strip were illegal and outlawed, adding that they should be integrated into official security departments.

    The Auxiliary Forces, controlled by Interior Minister Said Siamand established in Gaza in the months after Hamas took power in early 2006, have participated in recent gunbattles between Hamas and Fatah following Abbas' call for early elections.

    Abbas made the statement after a surge of internal violence in the Palestinian territories.

    On Saturday afternoon, unknown gunmen kidnapped an official from the Hamas-led government in West Bank city of Ramallah and shot at his legs before releasing him, witnesses and security sources said.

    The targeted official was Ihab Suliman, the director of Interior Minister Said Siam's office in Ramallah. The incident was considered to be linked with the tension between the Hamas-led government and Fatah party, headed by Abbas.

    On late Saturday, children and family members of a slain security official in Gaza set fire to a nearby house of a Hamas lawmaker in Jabaliya refugee camp to vent their anger.

    Early last Thursday, the security chief Mohammed Ghraieb, who was loyal to Abbas, was killed by members of Hamas' military wing and the Auxiliary Forces.

    Moreover, a clan, that had two members killed by Hamas in earlier clashes, abducted four Hamas supporters in Gaza city on Saturday.

    The violence has in the past couple of days claimed the lives of nine people in Gaza Strip, including civilians, according to Palestinian sources.