Gunmen storm Fatah offices in Gaza

Palestinians surround lawmaker Ashraf Goma, after he was hit in the head when gunmen stormed Fatah's Gaza offices. Photo / Reuters

GAZA - Palestinian gunmen stormed the offices of a senior Fatah lawmaker in Gaza yesterday, wounding several office workers and raising tensions one month after Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal strip.

Fatah said the raid was carried out by members of Hamas' Executive Force.

A Hamas spokesman denied they were Executive Force members.

Fatah officials said the gunmen stormed the office of senior lawmaker Ashraf Goma, who was hit in the head with a rifle butt during the raid. They said at least three other office workers were shot and wounded.

"They did not target me personally but the entire Fatah movement," Goma told reporters.

Executive Force spokesman Islam Shahwan condemned the attack and said: "Those who attacked the office were not from the Executive Force."

This was the first known attack on a senior Fatah official in Gaza since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved a Hamas-led unity government after Hamas militants routed his Fatah forces and took control of the enclave on June 14.

- REUTERS