Hamas blamed for detonating charge at home of Suleiman Abu Mutlak.
By ASSOCIATED PRESShamas men masked 298(photo credit: AP [file])
Hamas operatives detonated an explosive charge at the home of a former security chief in the town of Khan Younis, blowing out walls but causing no deaths or injuries, the former official said.
"This is an assassination attempt against me," said Suleiman Abu Mutlak. Other officials of the Fatah Party, which lost parliamentary elections to Hamas in a vote last week, also blamed Hamas for the explosion.
The blast occurred at about 4:30 am local time. Palestinian security forces arrived at the scene and sealed the area. They said three kilograms (seven pounds) of explosives were detonated by remote control.
It was the first attack on a leading Fatah figure since Hamas won legislative elections last week, beating out Fatah in a landslide.
Tensions between the two movements have been mounting.
Hamas did not respond to the allegation that it was behind Wednesday morning's attack. But Hamas said three of its members were targeted in a drive-by shooting two days ago, with two wounded.
Abu Mutlak is the former director of Gaza's Preventive Security Agency, which in the past has carried out crackdowns on Hamas and other militant groups.
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