By Xinhua
Gaza : Around 300 Palestinians staged a sit-in at a pro-Fatah university in Gaza City Sunday, protesting against Hamas police forces which stormed the university and took away some materials from the laboratories.
In the campus of Al-Azhar University, the students and the administrative staff erected a tent and sat, listening to a speaker who read out a statement condemning the act and expressing support for the university.
Jawad Wadi, president of the university, said that Hamas' Executive Forces stormed the university Saturday and seized 80 sacks of chemical fertilizer.
"They broke into the campus and the labs under the pretext of searching for weapons and looted the chemical substances that belong to the faculty of agriculture," Wadi added.
The incident took place while Hamas forces were raiding houses for a pro-Fatah clan located in the same area. Members of the Fatah-affiliated Abu Amra clan were arrested for illegally storing arms, drugs and stolen goods.
Hamas has been launching similar raids after it seized control of the Gaza Strip last month, targeting many Fatah partisans and supporters.
Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for the Executive Forces, said an internal investigation into the Al-Azhar University incident was underway, but added the forces entered the labs after a call by an academic who claimed he had been abducted.
However, he admitted that the Hamas troops should not have taken all the substances from the labs.
"The Executive Forces will take tough action against anyone who acted irresponsibly against the university or its administration," Shahwan promised.