Hamas security agencies in the Palestinian Gaza Strip closed on Saturday a Qatari cellular provider for failing to cooperate with the investigations into the failed assassination attempt against Prime Minister Rami al-Hamadallah.
Hamas police spokesman Ayman Batniji said Saturday that Wataniya Mobile, a subsidiary of Qatar's Ooredoo, was being closed down for "refusing to cooperate" in the inquiry.
Gaza internal security forces chief Toufik Abou Naim said that the decision was taken by the general prosecution.
He explained that the company failed to comply to the general prosecutor’s demand to reveal telephone data and the names of suspects in the assassination attempt.
A roadside bomb struck a convoy carrying Hamdallah earlier this week after he crossed into Gaza from Israel, wounding some of his bodyguards. Local reports say a second bomb that failed to detonate contained a Wataniya SIM card.
Wataniya Mobile had started operating in Gaza in October.
Investigations revealed that the perpetrators had planted two 15-kg roadside explosives. The bombs were locally made and prepared to be remotely detonated.
The first bomb went off, but a fault in the second prevented it from going off.
Leading Hamas member Moussa Abou Marzouq said that the investigations had reached “tangible results”, adding that Israel would have benefited the most from the attack.
