Hamas accuses of PA of 'incitment campaign' against it
Photo: Reuters
PA: Hamas admits responsibility for march blast
Tensions between the PA and Hamas continue amid claims that Hamas has compensated families of those affected by the parade Qassam blasts killing 21 people last month
Hamas has admitted that it was responsible for the explosion during last month's Hamas parade, which claimed the lives of 21 people, and injuring a hundred more, according the Palestinian Authority's Interior Ministry.
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The Ministry said that a compensation package had been offered by Hamas to the families of those affected, but Hamas has not confirmed the reports.
A military march held by Hamas to celebrate Israel's withdrawal from the Strip was interrupted when a number of Qassam rockets carried on trucks exploded, killing 21 people. Immediately after the explosion, Hamas blamed Israel, and senior Hamas members claimed they saw a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft at the parade. They also said that the missiles in the parade did not contain explosives.
Hamas then verbally attacked the PA, after it announced that Israel had no connection to the incident, and concluding that the explosion was accidental. On the same night, a barrage of Qassam rockets was fired at Sderot.
The PA Interior Ministry said that Hamas' decision to accept responsibility for the blast was a result of internal splits, and cited a "lack of credibility of Hamas spokesmen and senior figures in connection with the blast, along with the protests of many Hamas members who criticized the flawed management of crisis," affecting Hamas' image.
Hamas has not approved the reports in any way and sources close to it have dismissed them as part of a campaign of incitement led by the PA interior Ministry.
It has officially demanded that the PA end what it called the incitement led against it by Palestinian security bodies and the Interior Ministry.
On Sunday, Palestinian police chief Ala Husseini accused Hamas of being behind the assassination of the former Palestinian intelligence commander, Musa Arafat, in September. Husseini said that Hamas was behind a number of further incidents designed to increase anarchy in PA administered areas, due to its belief that disorder would help it assume power.
Hamas spokesman Moshir al-Masri said that his organization rejected the accusations, which he said was part of a PA and Israel led propaganda campaign.
In recent weeks, a public war of words has raged between media outlets associated with Fatah and the PA on one side, and Hamas on the other. Hamas said that the anarchical situation in the Palestinian territories was the result of power struggles between Fatah and PA factions.
On Monday, Hamas claimed that Palestinian security forces arrested Yousef abu-Zahari, brother of Sami abu-Zahari, a Hamas spokesman. Hamas said that abu-Zahari was abused while being interrogated in PA custody, and claimed that the same abuse was experienced by other Hamas members arrested by the PA.
One of the main causes of tensions between the two sides is Hamas' objection to a PA decision to delay elections in a number of cities in the territories, primarily in Gaza.
Hamas has also refused to sign a treaty of honor, signed by all other Palestinian organizations ahead of the general PA elections, in protest at the PA's policy, and its passivity in the face of hundreds of arrests carried out by Israel of Hamas members.
