Gaza explosions leave Hamas exposed
The two terrorist explosions that rocked the Gaza Strip despite Hamas’ tight security measures triggered questions about the movement’s capacity to stand up to the Islamic State.
The Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip launched an arrest campaign against individuals suspected of the suicide bombings that rocked the coastal enclave Aug. 27, killing three police officers and injuring three others in Gaza City.
The first explosion happened at the Dahdouh checkpoint, west of Gaza City; the second targeted the traffic police checkpoint in the Sheikh Ajlin area.
No party has claimed responsibility for the incident, but the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian security services in Gaza arrested individuals said to be affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) and who espouse the group’s extremist ideology and antagonism toward Hamas.
Iyad al-Bazm, spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza, was interviewed on Hamas' Al-Aqsa satellite TV Aug. 28 and revealed preliminary information from the investigation. He said the first suicide bomber, without mentioning his name, blew himself up on a motorcycle at the police checkpoint near the Dahdouh junction. The other individual blew himself up at the Sahel checkpoint, west of Gaza City.
