Hamas breaks up anti-Israel rally in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas policemen in Gaza on Tuesday dispersed an anti-Israel protest and witnesses said they also assaulted a news team from a TV station that backs embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Dozens of supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took to the streets in southern Gaza Tuesday to protest a pair of weekend Israeli airstrikes in Syria against a suspected weapons shipment to Lebanon.

Witnesses alleged that policemen assaulted demonstrators and a crew from the Lebanese-based al-Mayadeen TV station. The station refers to rebels trying to oust Assad as “terrorists.”

Hamas has condemned the Israeli airstrikes even though it backs the Syrian rebels in their quest to topple Assad.

Ihab Ghussian at the Gaza government media office condemned the alleged assault on journalists and called for an investigation.