Hamas says Fatah behind recent Gaza bombings

Hamas on Tuesday accused members of its rival Fatah faction of being behind the recent spate of bombings in the Gaza Strip. A senior Hamas official said that investigations into the bombings, which targeted security installations and figures in the Gaza Strip, showed that Fatah members associated with the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank were responsible for the attacks. The official denied that Salafi jihadists who are affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group were linked to the bombings. The Hamas official was quoted by the Palestinian Amad news agency as saying that at least 12 Fatah members have been arrested in the Gaza Strip in connection with the bombings. The official said that one of the suspects, Ala Abdel Qader Abu Judeh, is accused of tossing a hand grenade at members of Hamas's armed wing, Izzadin Kassam. Abu Judeh and the other suspects were on the payroll of the PA security forces and some of them even served as officers in the security branches. Meanwhile, Hamas official Salah Bardaweel claimed that Palestinian female legislator Khaleda Jarrar, who is also a senior representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was recently arrested by Israeli authorities at the request of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Jarrar was arrested at her home in Ramallah on May 2 and has since been placed under administrative detention. Bardaweel said that Abbas wanted Jarrar arrested “to get rid of free voices that oppose his political agenda and performance.” The Hamas official said that the PA does not want any opposition or criticism of its policies in the West Bank. In a related development, Hamas accused the PA of pursuing security coordination with Israel following the arrest by the IDF of Abdel Rahman Hamdan, a senior member of the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc that won the recent Bir Zeit University student council election. PA security forces tried to arrest Hamdan after the election, but to no avail. On Tuesday morning, he was arrested by the IDF. Hamas said that the arrest of Hamdan is a sign of continued security coordination between the PA and Israel in the West Bank.

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