Hamas police beat and forcibly removed residents from their homes in southern Gaza, and the buildings were then demolished by bulldozers.

Hamas police beat and forcibly removed residents from their homes in a southern Gaza city, and the buildings were then demolished by bulldozers.

The Associated Press reports that the Hamas police wielded clubs and pushed the residents out of dozens of homes in Rafah, on the Egyptian border. The incident occurred on Sunday, and destruction was expected to continue on Monday. Hamas authorities said the homes were built illegally on government land.

Newly homeless residents were reportedly furious over Arabs on bulldozers razing Arab homes.

"For years," AP's Rizek Abdel Jawad reports, "Palestinians have criticized Israel for destroying houses, mostly because they were built without permits issued by the military. Now, Rafah residents complained, their own government, run by the Islamic militant Hamas that seized power in Gaza in July 2007, has done the same."