One Palestinian policeman and three Hamas fighters have been killed in the town of Qalqilya in the West Bank, officials have said.

The clash erupted after police from the Palestinian Authority (PA) surrounded a house on Thursday to arrest suspected Hamas fighters, Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for the security forces, said.

He said one policeman and three Hamas fighters in the house had been killed.

Several people were also injured in the exchange of gunfire, he said.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Qalqilya, said the police had uncovered a hideout for Hamas fighters using a warrant from the district attorney's office.

The fighting was the latest in a series of incidents that have further stoked tensions between Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this week, three police officers, two Hamas fighters and a bystander were killed in fighting in Qalqilya, following a dawn raid on suspected Hamas members.

The raid sparked angry demonstrations by Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas says that Fatah-dominated security forces are pursuing a politically motivated crackdown against Hamas activists, a claim which Fatah has also made about Hamas in Gaza.