Gaza Assassination Attempt on PA PM

The Fellowship | March 13, 2018

Palestinian PM unhurt after explosion in Gaza — GAZA CITY, GAZA - MARCH 13: Palestinian security officials inspect a damaged car after an explosion struck near the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Gaza City, Gaza on March 13, 2018. No casualties were reported. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Today, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority made a trip to the Gaza Strip which did not turn out as planned. The Times of Israel’s Khaled Abu Toameh reports that PM Rami Hamdallah’s convoy was attacked by an explosion in an apparent assassination attempt that is being blamed on Hamas:

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah survived an apparent assassination attempt as a bomb went off next to his convoy as he visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding several people, officials and Palestinian media reported.

The PA said Hamdallah and PA General Intelligence Chief Majed Faraj, who was accompanying him, were unhurt. However, media reports said several bystanders were injured. Their condition was not immediately clear.

PA civil affairs minister Hussein Al Sheikh said the Hamas group, which rules Gaza, would be held fully responsible for this “murderous” assassination attempt and warned that this was an unprecedented dangerous development that would have grave consequences for Hamas.

Three of the vehicles in Hamdallah’s convoy were damaged, their windows blown out. One had signs of blood on the door. Video from the scene showed a huge plume of back smoke rising into the air near the convoy.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Radical Islamists opposed to Hamas also operate within the Gaza Strip and have regularly been behind unrest there…