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Fatah and Hamas representatives at reconciliation talks
Photo: AFP

Hamas accuses PA of being behind recent wave of violence in Gaza

Hamas says members of former PA security forces in Gaza 'used the difficult conditions in Gaza to spread chaos and confusion with bombings, burning of cars and shootings'.

Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority's security services on Saturday of being behind the recent wave of violence in the Gaza Strip, which has exacerbated tensions between the two Palestinian rivals.

 

 

Hamas' Interior Ministry spokesman, Iyad al-Bozoum, accused "members of the former security (forces) in Gaza" - PA forces who were ousted in a Hamas coup in 2007 - of having "used the difficult conditions in Gaza, especially after the last war (in the summer against Israel), to spread chaos and confusion with bombings, burning of cars and shootings."

 

While Bozoum provided no further details on these incidents, bombings targeting vehicles of Fatah members and of Hamas officials have occurred in recent months.

 

Fatah and Hamas representatives meet in Cairo for reconciliation talks (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
Fatah and Hamas representatives meet in Cairo for reconciliation talks (Photo: EPA)

 

According to him, investigations into the attacks revealed that the incidents were "the result of plans carried out by security chiefs in Ramallah to spread chaos in Gaza in order to cover the government's failure and absolve it of any responsibility."

 

Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement with the Palestinian Authority last spring, forming a unity government of technocrats, but it has not ceased accusing the government of abandoning the Gaza Strip. The PA, for its part, accuses the Islamist movement of hindering the work of the government in the enclave, where Hamas is reluctant to hand over power.

 

Relations between Fatah and Hamas were strained further in November, when a series of explosions targeted the homes of a dozen Fatah members in Gaza, causing damage but no casualties.

 

Those responsible for these attacks, which targeted the vehicles of Hamas leaders, have yet to be discovered, but Bozoum said that "several suspects have been arrested."

 

At a press conference on Saturday, Bozoum released recordings he said were of the suspects, members of the PA's security services in Gaza before 2007, claiming to have committed these attacks after receiving orders from Ramallah.

 

For his part, Osama al-Qawasmi, a spokesman for Fatah, responded in a statement released by the PA-affiliated Wafa news agency, saying Bozoum's accusations were "lies by Hamas that nobody believes because everyone knows that Hamas imposes its power by force." He accused Hamas in return for being "responsible for the bombings and torching of cars."

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.14.15, 20:00
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