Angered by living in tents for two winters and now baking
in the midst of an intense heat wave, the squatters took over the unfinished
apartment house and have already resisted one police effort to evict them.
"The heat and cold hurt our children. Where are
you?" read a banner pasted on the wall of the building, in the first overt
move against government property since Hamas took power in 2007.
Bassam Jamil, one of the squatters, said 43 families had
moved into the building, which was still under construction in Jabalya in the
northern Gaza Strip. It belongs to the Hamas-run housing ministry.
"We have lost faith that anyone will rebuild our
homes. We have taken shelter in the building from the heat in the tents we've
been living in," Jamil said.
Thousands of homes and factories were destroyed by
Israeli bombing and shelling in a three-week war in Dec-Jan 2008-09 against
Hamas.
Earlier this week, Hamas police tried to evict the
families but were confronted with resistance by women and children.
The building has 44 unfinished apartments. The squatters
say they are still better than tents. They have fitted their own doors and are
now asking city authorities to turn on electricity and water.
