MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - The killing of Musa Arafat might lead to a civil war in Palestine, a Russian political expert said Wednesday.

Yevgeny Satanovsky, the president of the Russian Institute for Middle East Studies, said the killing of the influential clan leader in the Gaza Strip indicated that the Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, was trying to gain control over the territory.

"The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which opposes radical Islamists, has been left without a leader," Satanovsky said. "At present, there is a danger of 'Hamasistan' being established in the Gaza Strip."

"After Israel's withdrawal, it is up to Palestinians to establish order there," the expert added. "Nobody else can do it."

Musa Arafat had headed Palestinian military intelligence since it was set up in 1994 on Yasser Arafat's orders. The service was created to exercise control over opposition groups in the PLO and to counter the activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which seeks an independent Palestine.

Musa Arafat, who was a military aide to the leader of the Palestinian National Autonomy (PNA) Mahmoud Abbas and a former PNA security chief, was killed Wednesday at his home in Gaza Strip by unidentified attackers.

Arafat's eldest son, a high-ranking PNA security official, was kidnapped during the attack.