Gaza City Gaza Strip ? Thousands of Fatah supporters burned cars and shot in the air across the Gaza Strip on Friday, demanding the resignation of corrupt party officials and insisting there be no coalition between their defeated party and the victorious Hamas.

The protest against the party that dominated Palestinian politics for the past 40 years came after President Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected last year to a four-year term, said he would ask the Islamic militant group to form the next government. Abbas later fired six Fatah officials.

Israel’s government, caught off guard by the Hamas parliamentary landslide after its vaunted intelligence services predicted a slim victory for Abbas’ Fatah Party, said it would have no contacts with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni appealed to the international community not to legitimize a Hamas government, saying elections “are not a whitewash for terror.”

A Hamas-led government could lead to a cutoff of crucial foreign aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority if the Islamic militants do not renounce violence and end their call for the destruction of Israel.

Despite international pressure, Hamas leaders said Friday they had no intention of recognizing Israel.

“It’s not in our mind now to recognize it as we believe that it’s a state that has usurped our land and expelled our people. These issues should be handled before we talk about recognition,” deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said from Damascus, Syria.

A protester holds a Fatah badge and a Palestinian flag next to a burning car Friday inside the courtyard of Parliament in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Members of Fatah, which lost the elections to Hamas, demanded the resignation of corrupt officials.

Hamas held a celebratory rally in the central Gaza town of Khan Younis, as supporters waved green party flags and caps and chanted slogans.

Small, violent confrontations also broke out in Khan Younis. An argument between roughly 20 Hamas and Fatah loyalists degenerated into gunfire and rock-throwing that left three people injured, one with gunshot wounds.

On Friday, thousands of Fatah activists, furious with those leaders for the electoral loss, protested throughout Gaza and the West Bank, demanding the Fatah central committee resign and insisting the party not form a partnership with Hamas. Fatah officials publicly said they would not join a coalition government.