Lebanon: Senior Hamas official hit in car bombing

Who tried to kill a senior Hamas official in Lebanon? 

By: World Israel News and AP

A senior Hamas official was the target of a car bombing in Lebanon on Sunday, which left him severally wounded.

Local media reported that a bomb attached to the car of Hamas official Mohammad Hamdan exploded outside his home in the southern city of Sidon, as he opened the vehicle’s door.

Images posted on social media and aired on Lebanese TV showed a mangled car, a large fire and black smoke rising above the city. Security forces cordoned off the area and firefighters worked to put out the blaze.

Medical sources reported that he sustained serious injuries to his legs.

The Hezbollah-linked Al-Mayadeen news reported that an Israeli plane was flying over the city at the time of the explosion.

Mohammad Hamdan is the brother of senior Hamas leader in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan.

While Lebanese outlets were quick to blame Israel for the incident, the Palestinians themselves may be behind the apparent assassination attempt. Several Palestinian armed factions are based in Lebanon, mostly in refugee camps around the country. Rivalry between them over control often produces clashes.

In 2006, two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group were killed in the same neighborhood in Sidon when a bomb planted in a vehicle detonated as they passed near it. Israel was also blamed for that attack.