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Hamas Working to Uncover Entity Behind Gaza Bombings

The security establishment confirmed it has gathered information and full details will be announced soon

Hamas says it has uncovered new details regarding an attack that took place on the evening of August 27 in the Gaza Strip, in which two police checkpoints were targeted and three police officers were killed.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for the armed Islamist group that controls the Strip, revealed to The Media Line that its security services have information regarding the perpetrators of the attack, but that the investigation is still ongoing.
“In the coming few hours things will be clearer,” he said, adding that while “extremist parties in the area stand behind the terrorist attack,” they likely did so under the instruction of foreign entities.
Eyad al-Bazam, the Interior Ministry spokesperson in Gaza, explained to The Media Line that “cowardly” criminal acts like this one are targeting the security and stability of Gaza, further muddling the complicated Palestinian situation.
“Whatever party is behind the attack, its agenda intersects with the agenda of the Israeli occupation,” al-Bazam said.
He explained that the necessary procedures had been completed by Hamas and that the attacker will be brought to justice in order to serve as a lesson for others. “These kinds of attacks won’t affect the security of Gaza,” he assured.
The Hamas Interior Ministry declared a state of alert among its security forces and police following the attacks.
Despite the ongoing investigation into who called for the attack, the ministry published a statement on Wednesday that accused the Israeli “occupation” and its agents of constantly working to undermine the security situation in Gaza.
“[The Israelis] use different methods. The security services have thwarted many [Israeli] schemes and it remains an impediment to all suspicious attempts in different forms,” the statement said.
Naji al-Thatha, a Palestinian political analyst in Gaza, explained to The Media Line that considering the rising tensions between Israel and Hamas, it is likely that the Jewish state is behind the attack – especially considering it has been involved, either directly or indirectly, in similar attacks in Gaza in the past.
“The attack aims to disrupt the security situation in the Strip,” al-Thatha explained. “Now, after Israel already failed to [disrupt it] through repeated escalation, I can’t explain the situation any other way than it being connected with Israel and its goals.”
Nonetheless, he pointed out that all of the entities within Gaza are standing behind the police as a civil service that insures the internal security.
Islamic Jihad spokesperson Musaab al-Berim confirmed this, telling The Media Line that the faction strongly condemns the attack, which it believes aims to tear the Palestinian internal fabric apart and exhaust the Palestinian front – thereby serving the “Zionist” enemy.
“They want to keep us busy and distracted,” he said. “We must unify efforts at social and political levels in order to protect the Palestinian resistance and society, as well as in order to protect our generations from such radical ideologies.”
However, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, provoked a wave of criticism among Palestinians when he tweeted following the bombings that most of the previous attacks on the Strip had been planned by the Palestinian Authority in an effort to assist the Israel Intelligence Agency (Shin Bet).
In response, Palestinian Authority official Munir al-Jaghoub stressed to The Media Line that Hamas’s leadership can’t help but promote lies and mislead the facts, which shows how Hamas is responsible for the catastrophic situation in Gaza.
“Hamas militias use the people of Gaza as hostages, offering their lives and livelihoods to the world in order to ensure that it remains in control and can continue its coup,” al-Jaghoub said.
He argued that Hamas had used the same kind of “criminal” behaviors against PA members and staff in 2007, when it overthrew the authority and took over control of the coastal enclave. “Here is Hamas today drinking from the same cup and being with terrorism,” he said.