 Chaos resulted from rival security forces doing most of the fighting |
Earlier, gunmen attacked a Fatah loyalist security base, killing eight people - the worst incident in three days of bloodshed.
A Fatah official denied the force would join fighting against Hamas, but would "protect the security" of Palestinians.
He confirmed the men had been sent for special police training in Egypt.
"The role of the security forces is to protect the security of the Palestinian people and not to take part in internal fighting," said Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.
The force is reported to be under the command of Muhammad Dahlan, national security adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 
We consider this a serious provocation and a crime committed in cold blood 
At least 17 people have died in Gaza since Sunday in the worst outbreak of factional violence in several months.
Training camp
Tuesday's clash took place near the key Karni crossing point, and drew fire from Israeli troops guarding the border.
Reports say the fighting erupted when suspected Hamas gunmen approached a training base used by the pro-Fatah Presidential Guard which is responsible for security on the Palestinian side of the Karni crossing.
A Presidential Guard spokesman said the Karni base was attacked with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, in remarks quoted by Associated Press.
After the ambush, bodies were seen strewn in the grass near an overturned security vehicle.
The base had been set up with US assistance to train Palestinian security forces monitoring the crossing.
The recruits there are largely unarmed, Presidential Guard spokesman Ahmed Kaisi is quoted as saying.
A spokesman for the Hamas paramilitary Executive Force denied its members were involved in the clash.
It followed the killing of two Hamas members in ambushes overnight.
Civil strife
The fighting, and Monday's resignation of Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, has dealt a major blow to the two-month-old national unity government set up by Islamist Hamas and its secular rival Fatah.
In a speech marking Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, the anniversary of the establishment of Israel in 1948, Mr Abbas called for an immediate implementation of a security plan to halt the internal fighting.
"We must do that ... without any reluctance or delay, to put an end to civil strife and the ghost of internal fighting," he said.
In a separate speech, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas urged people to work together to protect the national unity government.
"Our determination cannot be broken," he said. "We have said that we are going to give the politics a chance, but we are not going to drop our weapons until the [Israeli] occupation evacuates our land and justice and security and peace prevail."
Up to 170 people have died in clashes between the Fatah and Hamas factions since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006.
Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, but kept control of its borders, airspace and territorial water.
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