Israeli army destroys its last facilities in Gaza

Powerful explosions ripped apart headquarters and sent water and communication towers crashing to the ground today as Israel destroyed the last of its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and prepared to hand over the territory to the Palestinians early next week.

Palestinians, meanwhile, buried a former top security chief and relative of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose assassination on Wednesday underscored the chaos plaguing Gaza just days before the Palestinian Authority is to take control.