Palestinian gunmen on Sunday seized the local government offices in the southern city of Khan Younis, demanding that the Palestinian Authority do more to assist families left homeless by an Israeli military 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 Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group with loose ties to Arafat's Fatah movement, seized the governor's office in Khan Younis early in the day and expelled most of the 22 workers in the building, witnesses said.
Israeli 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 Khan Younis 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.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened his cabinet for its weekly meeting Sunday, opening it by sending his condolences to Russia in the wake of the school siege that left hundreds of people dead.
Sharon said the attack in southern Russia was an example of the terrorism which Israel has been battling for years.
