A Hamas force surrounded a home in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis Wednesday afternoon on suspicion that several operatives from the salafist movement of Jund Allah were hiding at the site.
Gaza is still reeling from an explosion that took place at the wedding of Mohammad Dahlen's nephew late Tuesday night. As the groom prepared to take the stage a grenade was thrown at the crowd and several gunmen opened fire, wounding the groom and 51 others.
Hamas' Interior Ministry announced it had arrested three suspects in the case, and sent its security forces to surround a house in were additional suspects were hiding.
The suspects initially refused to come out, and have threatened to blow up the house. According to Hamas, the affair is part of a religious struggle by the operatives against what they view as "corrupt weddings." A respected sheikh is attempting to settle the differences between the parties involved.
Dahlen's affiliates have been subjected to threats by Hamas due to the political struggle between the organization and its rival, Fatah. Two years ago, Hamas accused Dahlen of attempting to assassinatetheir prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and in January 2007 Hamas operatives attempted to murder Dahlen's security guards.
However, Fatah claims Haniyeh's underlings were responsible for the incident at the Dahlen wedding, and that the number of victims is close to 60. A Hamas official told Ynet his organization "had nothing to do" with the attack.