Tension is growing between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas following an explosion Monday night at the residence of senior Hamas member.
The PA has again attacked private weapons possession in homes and crowded population centers within the Palestinian territories, and said that the explosion proved that the “anarchy of weapons” must end.
The Authority also added that its investigation into the explosion is premised exclusively on the theory that it was caused by a work accident.
As casualties from the explosion arrived in hospital, a number of relatives also criticized the level of weaponry held in private homes. Four Palestinians were killed and over 30 were injured in the incident.
Initially, the Hamas terror group blamed the IDF for the explosion, an accusation flatly denied by the IDF. An IDF Spokesman Unit statement said that Israeli forced has no connection with the blast.
Hamas then denied that a work accident was the cause of the explosion.
A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zahari, said that an Israeli Apache helicopter fired a missile at a home containing Hamas members.
Zahari confirmed that two of the dead were Hamas members, and said that the incident proved the need for Hamas to continue to hold onto weapons to defend themselves.
Mounting tensions
The recent tension is the latest upset in a long record of discord between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
Tensions were increased when Hamas publicized a list of names of its regional commanders, and the Palestinian interior ministry accused Hamas of publishing the list to create the impression that an alternative sovereign body to the Palestinian Authority exists in Gaza.
The Palestinian interior minister warned of dire consequences for internal Palestinian relations, and blamed Hamas of doing all it could to agitate for an internal conflict.
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