Fatah militants set parliament building on fire

Militants from the opposition Fatah Party set the Palestinian Cabinet building on fire today in protest at the Hamas-led government.

The torching of the building in the West Bank city of Ramallah came after Hamas militiamen fought running gun battles with Fatah-allied security forces in Gaza City in violence that killed three people.

The Fatah militants threw stones at the Cabinet building, before breaking in and ransacking it.

Some of the militants set light to an office on the second floor and soon the entire floor was engulfed in flames.

The plumes of smoke rising into the sky eventually forced the militants to leave the building.