ya want us to give' em a state? nuts!

Sep. 5, 2004 8:49 | Updated Sep. 5, 2004 8:57
Gunmen seize PA building in Gaza
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Palestinian gunmen on Sunday seized the local government offices in the Gaza Strip, demanding that the Palestinian Authority do more to assist families left homeless by an Israel Defense Forces operation last week, witnesses said.

It was the latest case of violence directed toward Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, which has been widely accused of corruption and ineffectiveness.

About 15 gunmen from the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group with loose ties to Arafat's Fatah movement, seized the governor's office in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip early Sunday and expelled most of the 22 workers in the building, witnesses said.

IDF troops destroyed two apartment buildings in Khan Younis last Thursday, leaving 40 families homeless, Palestinian residents said. The army said the buildings had been used for cover by militants and were largely uninhabited.

One of the gunmen told The Associated Press that the militants were not seeking anything for themselves, only help for the displaced families.

The governor, who was not in the office at the time, was negotiating with the militants over the phone, the gunman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In recent weeks, there has been a series of kidnappings, shootings, and other attacks against members of the Palestinian Authority.