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Two Hamas security force members killed as Gaza bomb suspect arrested

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Two Hamas security force members were killed Thursday as they carried out a raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack in Gaza against the Palestinian prime minister, officials said.

Senior Hamas official Salah al Bardawil issued a statement announcing the arrest of the suspect and two accomplices as well as the deaths of members of the security forces during the raid.

An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of two security force members at the hospital and a senior police officer at the scene also confirmed the deaths on condition of anonymity.

A clash had erupted earlier in the day in Nuseirat, south of Gaza City, as security forces from Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, engaged in a manhunt for the suspect.

Dozens of new checkpoints were erected throughout the Palestinian enclave and armed security forces were searching cars, an AFP correspondent said.

Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah was unhurt by the roadside bomb that struck his convoy on March 13, in what Palestinian officials have called an assassination attempt as he entered Gaza on a rare visit.

Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majid Faraj, who was accompanying Hamdallah, also escaped injury.

A Hamas policeman takes position in Nuseirat  south of Gaza City  on March 22  2018  as security for...
A Hamas policeman takes position in Nuseirat, south of Gaza City, on March 22, 2018, as security forces carry out a raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister
MAHMUD HAMS, AFP

The roadside bomb, believed to have weighed around 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds), exploded a few hundred metres (yards) from the border with Israel, shortly after Hamdallah's convoy entered the territory. A second bomb failed to explode, officials said.

- Failed reconciliation -

Hamas did not give a possible motive for the attack on Hamdallah, head of government in president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

On Wednesday, a Hamas security source said investigators had arrested and were questioning three people, including two members of the PA-run intelligence services.

Another security source said he believed radical Salafist Muslims had planted the bomb, which lightly wounded six people.

On Monday, Abbas accused Hamas of being behind the blast and said he would take new measures in response, without specifying details.

Abbas has previously taken a series of measures, including reducing electricity payments for Gaza's two million residents, in what analysts said was an attempt to punish Hamas.

Hamas and the West Bank-based PA have been bitter rivals for a decade since the Islamists seized control of Gaza.

Hamas security force members inspect the crater left by a bomb that targeted the convoy of Palestini...
Hamas security force members inspect the crater left by a bomb that targeted the convoy of Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah on a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on March 13, 2018
MAHMUD HAMS, AFP/File

The bombing appears to have brought to an end hopes for an already floundering reconciliation deal signed in October between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party, which dominates the PA.

While Hamas did hand over control of Gaza's borders to the PA, it maintains full control of the rest of the territory, with its police force and armed wing still operating throughout.

The future of that armed wing has proved one of the largest sticking points in implementing the reconciliation agreement.

Previous attempts at reconciliation have failed.

Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

Many hoped reconciliation could ease worsening humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave, which suffers from electricity shortages and a lack of infrastructure, including clean water.

Two Hamas security force members were killed Thursday as they carried out a raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack in Gaza against the Palestinian prime minister, officials said.

Senior Hamas official Salah al Bardawil issued a statement announcing the arrest of the suspect and two accomplices as well as the deaths of members of the security forces during the raid.

An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of two security force members at the hospital and a senior police officer at the scene also confirmed the deaths on condition of anonymity.

A clash had erupted earlier in the day in Nuseirat, south of Gaza City, as security forces from Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, engaged in a manhunt for the suspect.

Dozens of new checkpoints were erected throughout the Palestinian enclave and armed security forces were searching cars, an AFP correspondent said.

Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah was unhurt by the roadside bomb that struck his convoy on March 13, in what Palestinian officials have called an assassination attempt as he entered Gaza on a rare visit.

Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majid Faraj, who was accompanying Hamdallah, also escaped injury.

A Hamas policeman takes position in Nuseirat  south of Gaza City  on March 22  2018  as security for...

A Hamas policeman takes position in Nuseirat, south of Gaza City, on March 22, 2018, as security forces carry out a raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister
MAHMUD HAMS, AFP

The roadside bomb, believed to have weighed around 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds), exploded a few hundred metres (yards) from the border with Israel, shortly after Hamdallah’s convoy entered the territory. A second bomb failed to explode, officials said.

– Failed reconciliation –

Hamas did not give a possible motive for the attack on Hamdallah, head of government in president Mahmud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority.

On Wednesday, a Hamas security source said investigators had arrested and were questioning three people, including two members of the PA-run intelligence services.

Another security source said he believed radical Salafist Muslims had planted the bomb, which lightly wounded six people.

On Monday, Abbas accused Hamas of being behind the blast and said he would take new measures in response, without specifying details.

Abbas has previously taken a series of measures, including reducing electricity payments for Gaza’s two million residents, in what analysts said was an attempt to punish Hamas.

Hamas and the West Bank-based PA have been bitter rivals for a decade since the Islamists seized control of Gaza.

Hamas security force members inspect the crater left by a bomb that targeted the convoy of Palestini...

Hamas security force members inspect the crater left by a bomb that targeted the convoy of Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah on a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on March 13, 2018
MAHMUD HAMS, AFP/File

The bombing appears to have brought to an end hopes for an already floundering reconciliation deal signed in October between Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party, which dominates the PA.

While Hamas did hand over control of Gaza’s borders to the PA, it maintains full control of the rest of the territory, with its police force and armed wing still operating throughout.

The future of that armed wing has proved one of the largest sticking points in implementing the reconciliation agreement.

Previous attempts at reconciliation have failed.

Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States.

Many hoped reconciliation could ease worsening humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave, which suffers from electricity shortages and a lack of infrastructure, including clean water.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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