Masked men sprayed graffiti on the walls of a French center in Gaza city Friday to protest against offensive cartoons republished by the French weekly Charlie Hebdo that ridicule Prophet Mohamed of Muslims.

The graffiti written in black read "Except the messenger of Allah (God)," and "French journalists go to hell."

Gaza police arrived at the French Cultural Center building in western Gaza city to investigate the incident. The center was twice under bomb attacks in October and December.

On Thursday, the Palestinian presidency condemned in an official statement the Charlie Hebdo's insistence to publish the offensive cartoon and circulate 3 million copies.

"We stood on the side of the French people against terrorism, but at the same time freedom of expression has to be respected, mainly when it comes to religions," said the official Palestinian statement.

Also, the Islamist Hamas movement slammed the French media for publishing offensive cartoons satire of the prophet.

Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman in Gaza said in an emailed press statement that "Charlie Hebdo is a clear provocation to the Muslims' feelings all over the world."

"The aim of publishing the offensive cartoon against Prophet Mohamed is to strengthen the culture of hatred against Islam and the Muslims and an intentional incitement to using violence against Muslims," said Barhoum.