Gaza shoot-out as gunmen burn down security building

Dozens of Palestinian gunmen stormed an office of the Palestinian intelligence service today, opening fire on security guards inside, smashing furniture and burning down the one-storey building, witnesses said.

The attack by the gunmen – who belong to an extreme offshoot of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement – was the latest round of violence in the Gaza Strip during a weekend of kidnappings, demonstrations and protests against reforms in the Palestinian Authority security forces.

Arafat promoted his intelligence chief, Moussa Arafat, to chief of the Palestinian security forces in the framework of reforms, which are a key United States and Egyptian demand as part of both the internationally backed “road map” peace plan and an Israeli proposal to pullout of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians in Arafat’s Fatah faction and members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – a militant group linked to Fatah – opposed the move, calling Moussa Arafat corrupt and demanding “real” reforms.

The destruction of the intelligence office on the outskirts of the Khan Younis refugee camp was the latest violence. Gunmen fired on a group of between seven to nine security guards inside. A gun battle erupted culminating in the destruction of the building when gunmen burned it down.