Hamas accuses PA intelligence of bombing PM's convoy
Gaza's Interior Ministry claimed senior intelligence figures from Ramallah were behind the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, yet the timing of the announcement has raised questions.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Ministry of Interior and National Security in the Gaza Strip revealed the identity of a man suspected of being behind the attempted assassination of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in an April 28 press conference.
The ministry accused “senior figures of the General Intelligence Service in Ramallah” of being behind the bombing of Hamdallah’s convoy after entering the Gaza Strip on March 13. “The same people were behind the attempt to assassinate Maj. Gen. Tawfiq Abu Naim,” the ministry said.
Abu Naim is the head of the Palestinian Internal Security Forces in Gaza. He survived an assassination attempt after a bomb placed under his car exploded Oct. 27, 2017. Back then, the Hamas leadership blamed Israel for the attack.
The government-owned news outlet Al-Ra’i reported April 28 that the ministry noted, “Those behind both assassination attempts have played a role in previous acts of sabotage in the Gaza Strip and Sinai under the cover of extremist groups,” adding that they were planning to target international figures visiting the Gaza Strip — including the Egyptian security delegation that visited April 14 for meetings on the efforts to implement the Palestinian reconciliation understandings.
