Mahmoud Abbas
Photo: AP
Report: Abbas cancels Gaza trip over assassination plot
Senior security official says visit cancelled following discovery of tunnel full of explosives placed by gunmen to blow up Palestinian president's convoy
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas canceled a trip to Gaza on Thursday after it was discovered that Hamas gunmen planned to blow up his convoy, a senior security official said.
"Abu Mazen's (Abbas's) visit to Gaza was canceled after the discovery of a tunnel under Salaheddine Road full of explosives placed by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigads to blow up (Abbas's) convoy," said the official.
"The explosives were found on the route that Abu Mazen takes to travel to Gaza," the source added.
An official in Abbas's office confirmed the report.
Dozens of Hamas and Fatah members have been killed in the past few days in heavy clashes. The tensions between the two factions were interrupted by a series of IDF air strikes in response to the firing of Qassam rockets at the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon.
