An official in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip accused a senior intelligence officer in the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, on March 13.
Hamas: Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Service was behind the bombing of the convoy of PM Rami Hamdallah in Gaza Strip last month. pic.twitter.com/EDZOEBuqPi
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) April 28, 2018
Rami Hamdallah’s convoy was attacked just after it crossed through the Israeli-controlled Erez checkpoint, known to Palestinians as Beit Hanoun. He was unharmed but seven security guards were wounded in the blast.
"Who Wants to Kill Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah?"
The primary motive for the assassination attempt on Palestinian PM may have been to obstruct reconciliation efforts between Hamas & Fatah – which would serve Israel's interests.
by @RamzyBaroudhttps://t.co/GbCsWW4Txw— Kevin Bushnell (@_Salam_) March 25, 2018
Iyad al-Bozom, the spokesman for the Hamas government’s interior ministry, said at a press conference on Saturday in Gaza:
“Our investigations were clear and complete. We are not accusing the Palestinian Intelligence, but in the course of our investigation we discovered that Brigadier-General Baha Balousha of the intelligence department orchestrated the attack.”
Al-Bozom said the suspected Palestinian Authority officers were also behind an attempt to kill Hamas’s head of security Tawfeeq Abu Naeem in October in Gaza.
#BREAKING: #Abbas accuses #Hamas of attempting to assassinate #Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah https://t.co/2Tyke6ZxEz pic.twitter.com/ZGRzoFQG1H
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) March 19, 2018
Osama al-Qawasmi, a spokesman for Fatah, the main Palestinian faction in Ramallah where the PA operates, denied the allegations in a statement, and accused Bozom of engaging in “misleading theatrics”.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of orchestrating the explosion that targeted Hamdallah’s convoy.
(Al Jazeera, PC, Social Media)
