Palestinian militants raided two Palestinian Authority offices yesterday to demand jobs and protection in a further sign of lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza.

About 15 members of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, fired in the air at the entrance to Nablus Governor Mohammed al-Alul's office and stormed into the Interior Ministry in the West Bank city.

Witnesses said an employee at the governor's office was slightly wounded in the incident. A spokesman for the brigades said the gunmen shot him accidentally.

The militants, wanted by Israel, shouted out demands for jobs and Palestinian Authority guarantees of their safety under any deal to transfer Nablus, now encircled and periodically raided by Israeli troops, to Palestinian security control.

Militants fear a deal on a Nablus pullback would include a demand they hand over their weapons to the Palestinian Authority, making them more vulnerable should Israel decide to go after them.