Media HQ raided in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Armed men raided the headquarters of Palestinian Authority media in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Friday, station staff said, causing damage to equipment.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident, though the staff and a PA official said they held Hamas responsible. Five armed men entered the offices of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation in Gaza City, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The organisation is funded by the West Bank-based Palestinian government, which has a longstanding dispute with the Islamist Hamas movement, and the building houses offices for Palestine TV and the Voice of Palestine radio station.

During the raid workers were assaulted and equipment destroyed, WAFA reported. "At least five people broke into the building, broke the radio door and completely destroyed the main studio, including cameras, equipment, furniture and broadcasting equipment," a staffer at the radio station said. AFP correspondents at the scene found a number of video cameras and computers badly damaged, with chairs and doors destroyed.