Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza said it had established a “high-level investigative committee” into the assassination attempt of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah on Sunday.
The ministry formed the committee to uncover the circumstances of the incident, announced Iyad al-Bazm, spokesman for the ministry.
The security services will continue to investigate a number of suspects in order to reach the perpetrators, AFP report Hamas' statement.
This is not the first assassination attempt of officials in Gaza, last October, a car bomb exploded in the car of official of the Interior Security Forces in Gaza, Major General Tawfiq Abu Naim.
Also last August, a Salafist suicide bomber blew himself in a group of Hamas security guards on the border with Egypt. Hamas security forces launched a campaign arresting more than 200 Salafist, according to Hamas activists and security sources.
Earlier this year, ISIS terrorist organization in Sinai posted a video showing a man named Hamza al-Zamili and two other residents of Gaza Strip executing a death sentence against a man named Musa Abu Zamat for smuggling arms to Hamas. Hamas internal security service responded by posting a video threatening the extremist organization, describing Zamili as "fugitive."
Over the past few years, dozens of ISIS militants have been receiving treatment in Gaza hospitals, where they would arrive secretly through border tunnels. After reaching agreement with Egypt in June, Hamas prevented them.
A clash between Hamas and terrorist groups seems imminent after Hamadallah's assassination attempt on Tuesday, according to a senior Hamas member.
Hamas tightened its security along the border between Gaza Strip and Egypt, by setting up checkpoints, surveillance cameras and barbed wire to ensure border control.
However, Major General Abu Naim told reporters Wednesday that "the only major beneficiary of the incident is the Israeli occupation, which aims to impede reconciliation."
Security services arrested at least three people for suspicion of links to the assassination, according to informed sources.
Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry in Ramallah, Mohammed Mansour, announced that Abu Naim sent an official communique to the Prime Minister on the circumstances of the attack that targeted his motorcade in Gaza on Tuesday.
Mansour told the “Voice of Palestine” radio that according to the letter, the criminals buried two 15-kilograms bombs along the road through which the Premier’s motorcade passed. He also said that both bombs were locally made and designed for remote detonation. The first exploded while the second, which was 37 kilometers far from the first one, did not blast due to a technical failure.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas decided not to allow any cabinet ministers to travel to Gaza any time soon "for security reasons," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, a bomb blast targeted Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah convoy during a rare visit to Gaza Strip, leaving him unhurt but at least six people were wounded. Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj was also in the convoy but was not injured in the explosion.
The PA and Fatah movement blamed Hamas for the attack, as a result of its security control over the Gaza Strip, and demanded that it "enable" the reconciliation government to assume full responsibility in the Strip.
Hamas "condemns the ready-made statements issued by the Palestinian Authority immediately after the explosion," said Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum.
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, reiterated the United Nations' support for the Palestinian Authority to take control of Gaza.
"I commend the Prime Minister’s leadership and continuing efforts to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and achieve reconciliation,” he said in a statement, adding: “those who inspired and perpetrated today’s attack seek to undermine these efforts and destroy the chances for peace. They must not be allowed to succeed.”
