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Hamas: Palestinian Authority carried out failed assassination attempt on Palestinian PM

Hamas accuses the Palestinian Authority of attempting to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in March.

By: World Israel News Staff

Hamas has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of carrying the failed attempt to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in March, calling on the Ramallah government to turn over suspects in the incident.

In a press conference held in Gaza on Saturday, Member of Hamas’ Political Bureau Dr. Khalil al-Hayya alleged that a “stray group, which belongs to the General Intelligence Agency in Ramallah,” attempted to assassinate Hamdallah with the objective of ending the reconciliation process between the Fatah and Hamas factions.

“Again, a new group emerged with suspicious aims planning to target the social and internal Palestinian fabric, as well as to destabilize security in Gaza and Sinai,” he claimed.

Hamdallah was traveling to the Gaza Strip to inaugurate a new sewage purification treatment plant and, higher on the agenda, to discuss the defunct reconciliation process between the PA and Hamas. Minutes after entering the Strip from Israel, his convoy was hit by an explosive charge. He escaped the attack unharmed

The visit was supposed to have been a crucial and celebratory visit by Hamdallah, who had not visited Gaza for over five months.

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The PA condemned the attack and placed responsibility for the incident on Hamas. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, “The attack on the consensus government is an attack on the unity of the Palestinian people.”

Responding to the PA’s accusations, al-Hayya said that “the General Intelligence Agency [in Ramallah] planned to scare the foreigners who visit Gaza as it wanted the coastal enclave to remain living fear and suffering.”

He called the accusation “a sad attempt to mix the cards and undermine the reconciliation, and it was used to impose more punitive measures on Gaza.”

“Exploiting the incident and imposing the siege and the punitive measures is not a responsible or a national behavior,” he stated. “Therefore, the PA must apologize for the Palestinian people over this invalid accusation as well as over the oppressive measures taken against Gaza.”

The attack occurred as the Palestinians face a total failure in their attempt to mend the rift between Fatah and Hamas.