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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian security officers went on the rampage in Gaza City Tuesday to demand back pay from the cash-strapped Hamas-led government, while Israel pressed ahead with its offensive against Hamas militants, killing three.

Several thousand Palestinian security officers fired rifles in the air and assaulted the parliament building, the first time armed forces have joined the workers’ protests over back pay.

Late Tuesday, three Hamas militants were killed in two Israeli airstrikes at cars in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. The military said it was targeting Hamas militants in both attacks.

Since an Israeli soldier was captured in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants in late June, Israeli forces have been operating in Gaza, hunting militants.

The Palestinian government has been in a financial crisis since Hamas took over in March after winning parliamentary elections. Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel, has refused international pressure to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state. In response, Western donors cut off aid.

Tropical Storm Florence likely to become hurricane

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Florence formed far out in the open Atlantic on Tuesday, and forecasters said it will probably become a hurricane. But they said it was too soon to tell whether the sixth named storm of the hurricane season would reach the United States.

Florence had sustained wind near 45 mph, 6 mph over the threshold for a tropical storm. The minimum for a hurricane is 74 mph.

"Our forecast does have it becoming a hurricane by Friday morning — minimal hurricane, Category 1,” National Hurricane Center meteorologist Mark Willis said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered 960 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, or about 2,100 miles southeast of Miami, and was moving northwest at about 12 mph.<