Palestinian prime minister survives roadside bomb attack
THE Palestinian prime minister survived an assassination attempt during a rare visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza yesterday, putting renewed strain on the already torrid relations between the two leading Palestinian factions.
Rami Hamdallah, the leader of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, had just entered Gaza when a roadside explosive detonated near his convoy.
Mr Hamdallah was not injured but seven of his guards and aides suffered slight wounds.
The explosion came hours before the White House was due to hold a summit on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attempted assassination but a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said he held Hamas responsible as “the de facto power in Gaza”. Hamas immediately hit back at Mr Abbas’s claims, saying they played into the hands of Israel. “We strongly reject the hasty accusations of the Palestinian presidency against the movement, which satisfies the goals of the criminals,” the group said.
The largely secular Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas have been at odds since 2006, when Hamas beat Fatah in elections and then seized control of Gaza by force, fighting in the streets against Fatah-aligned security troops.
The estrangement has left Gaza under the control of Hamas, while the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority is in charge of some parts of the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military controls other parts.
The explosion came shortly before Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and key aide for the Israeli-palestinian peace process, was due to host a “brainstorming session” on Gaza at the White House.
The goal was to find “real solutions to the problems that Hamas has caused”, said Jason Greenblatt, Mr Trump’s peace envoy.
The summit will include officials from Israel and several Arab countries as well as Europe. But the meeting has been derided because no Palestinian representatives will be present.