DEMOCRACY, GAZA STYLE

Gunmen storm Gaza election office, spark gunbattle.
GAZA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party stormed election offices in Gaza on Tuesday, sparking a gunbattle with police in a flare-up of violence that could disrupt next month’s parliamentary ballot.

The shooting by militants angry over the handling of ruling party primary elections forced the closure of all Palestinian election offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

About 100 al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen fired in the air as they burst into the election headquarters in Gaza City shortly before rival Hamas militants were expected to register their candidate lists for the vote.

At the same time, gunmen raided election offices in the West Bank city of Nablus, and in Rafah and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. There were heavy clashes with police in Khan Younis but no immediate reports of casualties.

SEE ALSO: Fatah Gunmen Threaten to Disrupt PA Election - Khaled Abu Toameh
Fatah gunmen took to the streets in several areas in the West Bank and Gaza on Monday, vowing to prevent the PA from holding parliamentary elections, after reports that PA Chairman Abbas had decided to name his own candidates for the Fatah party and ignore the results of primary elections held over the past two weeks. (Jerusalem Post)