GAZA CITY: Palestinian gunmen fired on the convoy of the director of the United Nations refugee agency as he returned to Gaza City on Friday, but there were no casualties, security sources and witnesses said.

“Eleven bullets hit his armoured car. We don't know who did it yet. We are investigating,” a security source said.

John Ging, the Gaza director of the UN Relief and Works Agency, was travelling from the Erez border crossing to Gaza City when the attack happened.

Violence has escalated in the Gaza Strip since Hamas came to power one year ago and plunged the Palestinian territories into a power struggle pitting the Fatah-dominated security services against Hamas militants. Although around 20 foreign journalists and aid workers have been kidnapped and released unharmed in the past year, such a direct and bold attack against foreigners in the Gaza Strip is rare.—AFP