Hamas kills rival activist in Gaza Strip shoot-out

Yunis al-Hanar, 27, belonged to ISIS-affiliated group

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinians wave Hamas and Palestinian flags (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinians wave Hamas and Palestinian flags
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas security forces on Tuesday shot and killed Yunis al-Hanar, a 27-yearold gunman belonging to a radical group affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Sources in the Gaza Strip said Hanar had been killed when Hamas forces raided his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City.
A Hamas security official said the man, whom he described as an “outlaw,” had been killed during an operation to arrest him.
The official said Hanar had opened fire at the security forces surrounding his home.
“The man refused to surrender and booby trapped the house,” the Hamas official said. Inside the house, Hamas security officers found explosive belts, bombs and RPG rockets, he added.
According to the sources, Hanar was responsible for a series of bombing attacks that targeted Hamas representatives and institutions in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.
However, activists belonging to radical Salafi groups in the Gaza Strip accused Hamas of “liquidating” the wanted man rather than arresting him. The activists denied Hamas’s claims that Hanar had opened fire at the security officers who had come to arrest him.
“He did not resist arrest and did not open fire,” said one activist, who identified himself as Yusef Uwais. “We only heard two shots that apparently came from the Hamas forces. The man tried to escape, but they chased him and shot him in the head. If he really had explosives inside the house, he would have used them.”
Meanwhile, Fatah claimed that Hanar’s “assassination” had been a coordinated effort between Hamas and Israel. Fatah spokesman Osama Qawassmeh claimed that Hanar had been killed because Hamas did not want other groups in the Gaza Strip to possess weapons.