Masked gunmen stormed into the Gaza beachfront UN club and blew up the drinking hall. It was the first such attack in Gaza on a UN target and came against a backdrop of growing unease over the upcoming elections in late January.
This came just hours after President Mahmoud Abbas promised to restore order.
Militants also announced an end to a truce with Israel they had followed at the request of Abbas. Palestinian militants marked the end of the truce agreement on Sunday by firing a barrage of rockets towards southern Israel.
The tension in the Palestinian territories continues to escalate ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Palestinian militants of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, hold a banner of the late Yasser Arafet during a rally marking the 41st anniversary of the foundation of Fatah, in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006.
Senior members of the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah Party are paying armed men to disrupt Jan. 25 parliamentary elections after failing to persuade Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the balloting, political officials said Sunday.
Growing chaos in Gaza and Israel’s threat to prevent east Jerusalem Palestinians from voting in the disputed city have led some prominent Palestinian officials to demand a second delay in the vote, where Fatah is expected to lose significant ground to Hamas militants.(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Fatah is now trailing significantly in the polls with the terrorist group Hamas leading by a wide margin. Hamas continues to favor Israel’s destruction.
In a separate incident on Saturday, about 30 gunmen and relatives of a young policeman who had been killed in a gun battle on Thursday with a Palestinian clan stood at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and threatened to stop Palestinian officials from using the crossing.
Previously:
Countdown to Palestinian Civil War
Death in Gaza as Factions Continue to Battle
Palestinian Infighting Escalates
Gaza Civil War Preparations Continue
Israel Blamed for Palestinian Infighting
Violent Protest for Jobs in Gaza
The Arafat Execution
Hamas Says, “Palestine is Not Only Gaza!”
Hamas Celebrates Israel Expulsion
Islamic Jihad to Continue “Struggle”
Israel Braces for Palestinian Collapse
Palestinian Factions Exchange Fire in Gaza
Polls Show Palestinians Upbeat & Favor Israel Annihilation Party