Gunmen storm local YMCA, place bomb in library and main office in the latest act of intimidation against local Christian groups.

Gaza (AsiaNews/Agencies) – No one was killed or hurt in this morning’s attack against the Gaza YMCA, but thousands of books were destroyed in what is the latest attack against the Strip’s tiny Christian community.

A gang of 14 armed men stormed the premises of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), overpowering the two security guards on duty. They placed a bomb in the library and another in its administrative office, but only the first exploded.

According to the YMCA director Eissa Saba, the gunmen searched the office and took away his computer. They made their getaway with the two security guards who were later released in the northern Gaza Strip.

With the fundamentalists of Hamas taking over the Gaza Strip, life for its 3,500 Christians has become much harder. Since then there have been numerous cases of intimidation.

The worst took place on 7 October last year when Fr Rami Khader Ayyad, 32, a member of the (Protestant) Palestinian Bible Society, was abducted, tortured and killed.

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