Hamas-run security forces in Gaza had earlier on Thursday detained the main suspect in last week’s assassination attempt against Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah after a gunbattle in which two security officers were killed, a security official said. (Photo: AP)

Gaza: The main suspect in last week’s attempted assassination of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah died of his wounds after a gun battle on Thursday with Hamas-run security forces in the Gaza Strip, a security official said.

Another gunman and two security officers were also killed in the shootout, the official said.

Hamas-run security forces in Gaza had earlier on Thursday detained the main suspect in last week’s assassination attempt against Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah after a gunbattle in which two security officers were killed, a security official said.

The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was wounded in the shootout with security forces that surrounded his hideout in the central Gaza Strip, the official said.

Two other gunmen were also detained, the official added.

Hamdallah and Palestinian Security Chief Majid Faraj’s convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb in Gaza on March 13. They were uninjured.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday blamed Hamas for the explosion. His remarks threatened reconciliation efforts to end a decade-old rift between his Fatah faction and the Islamist Hamas group that is dominant in Gaza.

Hamas had declared a $5,000 reward for anyone giving information about the suspect’s whereabouts. It provided no immediate details on his alleged motive or of an affiliation to any militant group.

Abbas, who is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has offered no evidence of the involvement of Hamas in the attempt against Hamdallah’s life. But he said he did not trust Hamas to investigate the incident honestly and that there had been “zero” progress in the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation.

Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Fatah in 2007. </s> Two Hamas security forces have been killed during an operation to arrest the main suspect in the bombing attack of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's convoy last week Al Jazeera News reported.

Al Jazeera has learned that the suspect, Anas Abu Khousa, was arrested during Thursday's operation.

Khousa was injured during the raid and is reportedly in critical condition.

Several security guards of Hamdallah were wounded during the March 13 attack, which took place while the prime minister was visiting Gaza.

The blast happened shortly after Hamdallah's convoy passed through the Israeli-controlled Erez checkpoint, known to Palestinians as Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.

Hamdallah heads the Palestinian Authority government based in Ramallah in the West Bank. </s> GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas said its security forces in Gaza shot dead on Thursday the main suspect behind an attempt to assassinate the Palestinian prime minister, a bombing that threatens to unravel its reconciliation agreement with the West Bank-based government.

 Two members of the Hamas security forces and one accomplice of the suspect also died in the shootout, the Hamas-led Gaza interior ministry said.

 The bombing of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's convoy in Gaza last week dealt another blow to efforts to implement a unity deal between the two main Palestinian factions - Islamist Hamas, which dominates Gaza, and Fatah, the main party in the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

 The motorcade Hamdallah and Palestinian security chief Majid Faraj was attacked on March 13 shortly after it entered Gaza from neighboring Israel. They were uninjured.

 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had blamed Hamas for the explosion.

 After Thursday's raid, a spokesman for Hamdallah's government questioned Hamas's version of events and again accused the group of bearing "full criminal responsibility" for the assassination attempt.

 "Once more, Hamas is going along the same path of ... fabricating weak stories that make no sense," the spokesman, Youssef Al-Mahmoud, said.

 More than a decade after Hamas fighters drove the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza, Egypt has been brokering a reconciliation deal under which the PA would again assume administrative and security control in the territory of two million people.

 Hamdallah has been spearheading those efforts on behalf of the PA, with both sides still divided over how to share power in Gaza, where Hamas is still the strongest armed force.

 Abbas has argued that the assassination attempt proved that the agreement was failing and that Hamas could not be trusted.

 In a statement, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza said its security forces investigating the assassination attempt had surrounded a hideout in the central region of the enclave and came under fire after demanding the suspects surrender.

 It said a man named Anas Abu Khoussa, whom it identified as the prime suspect in the bombing, was killed in the ensuing shootout, along with an accomplice and two Hamas security men.

 The ministry did not say whether Abu Khoussa was affiliated with any militant group.

 Abbas has offered no evidence of the involvement of Hamas in the attempt against Hamdallah's life. But he said he did not trust Hamas to investigate the incident honestly and that there had been "zero" progress in the reconciliation.

 Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Fatah in 2007.

 The Palestinian reconciliation effort is opposed by Israel, which considers Hamas, a group dedicated to its destruction, an implacable foe. U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014, in part over a unity deal that year between the PA and Hamas, as well as other issues.

 

 (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Ori Lewis and Peter Graff) </s> Two Hamas security forces have been killed in Gaza during an operation to arrest the main suspect in the bombing attack of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's convoy last week.

The suspect, Anas Abu Khousa, and an accomplice, Abdul Hadi al-Ashab, sustained critical injuries during Thursday's operation and later died of their wounds, according to the interior ministry.

Khousa and Ashab reportedly resisted arrest and exchanged fire with authorities.

Several security guards of Hamdallah were wounded during the March 13 attack, which took place while the prime minister was visiting Gaza.

The blast happened shortly after Hamdallah's convoy passed through the Israeli-controlled Erez checkpoint, known to Palestinians as Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.

Hamdallah heads the Palestinian Authority government based in Ramallah in the West Bank.

President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has accused Hamas of orchestrating the explosion.

The attack and subsequent statements by both sides mark a serious deterioration in relations between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Fatah, the ruling party within the PA, and Hamas, the party that governs the occupied Gaza Strip, signed a reconciliation agreement in October 2017, ending a decade of division that saw two parallel governments operating in Gaza and the West Bank, respectively.

But the deal was never fully implemented due to differences within the two political factions, which are the largest in Palestinian politics.

Analysts said the attack on Hamdallah's convoy was intended to put a strain on reconciliation efforts. </s> Two Hamas security force members were killed Thursday as they carried out a raid that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a recent bomb attack against the Palestinian prime minister, officials said.

Senior Hamas official Salah al Bardawil issued a statement announcing the arrest of the suspect and two accomplices as well as the deaths of members of the security forces during the raid in the Gaza Strip.

An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of two security force members at the hospital and a senior police officer at the scene also confirmed the deaths on condition of anonymity.

A clash had erupted earlier in the day in Nuseirat in central Gaza as Hamas security forces engaged in a manhunt for the suspect.

Dozens of new checkpoints were also erected throughout the Palestinian enclave and armed security forces were searching cars, an AFP correspondent said.

Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah was unhurt by the roadside blast that struck his convoy on March 13, in what Palestinian officials have called an assassination attempt as he entered the Hamas-run strip on a rare visit.

Hamas did not give a possible motive for the attack on Hamdallah, head of government in president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

On Monday, Abbas accused Hamas of being behind the blast and said he would take new measures in response, without specific details.

Hamas and the West Bank-based PA have been bitter rivals for a decade since the Islamists seized control of Gaza.

The bombing appears to have brought to an end hopes for an already floundering reconciliation deal between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party, which dominates the PA. </s> Damaged vehicle of the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah is seen after an explosion in the northern Gaza Strip Thomson Reuters GAZA (Reuters) - Gaza's ruling Hamas group blamed Palestinian Authority officials on Saturday for the attempted assassination in the enclave of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on March 13.

Finger-pointing over the roadside bomb attack on Hamdallah's convoy looks likely to deepen a bitter political rift between the Islamist Hamas group and Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas blamed the attack on Hamas soon after the incident in Gaza, in which Hamdallah, who has spearheaded efforts by the Authority to reconcile with Hamas, was not injured.

But Eyad al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, told a news conference on Saturday that three senior officers of Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority had masterminded the blast.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations and the Authority rejected Hamas's accusation.

Three men identified by Hamas as suspects involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout with its forces in Gaza on March 22.

The Gaza Interior Ministry presented video confessions by four men it is holding in custody, who it said were part of that cell guided by the PA officers, who are based in the West Bank. It presented no further evidence.

The assassination attempt has derailed efforts to end a deep divide between the two main Palestinian factions -- Hamas, which dominates Gaza, and Abbas's Fatah, the main force in the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, told a separate news conference that the suspects "wanted to kill reconciliation".

Al-Bozom said the suspected Palestinian Authority officers were also behind an attempt to kill Hamas's head of security Tawfeeq Abu Naeem in October in Gaza.

A spokesman for the Authority's security services blamed Hamas for the March 13 blast. "The more Hamas tries to evade responsibility, the deeper it sinks," Adnan al-Dmairi told Reuters by telephone. </s> Gaza's ruling Hamas group blamed Palestinian Authority officials on Saturday for the attempted assassination in the enclave of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on March 13.

GAZA: Gaza's ruling Hamas group blamed Palestinian Authority officials on Saturday for the attempted assassination in the enclave of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on March 13.

Finger-pointing over the roadside bomb attack on Hamdallah's convoy looks likely to deepen a bitter political rift between the Islamist Hamas group and Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas blamed the attack on Hamas soon after the incident in Gaza, in which Hamdallah, who has spearheaded efforts by the Authority to reconcile with Hamas, was not injured.

But Eyad al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, told a news conference on Saturday that three senior officers of Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority had masterminded the blast.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations and the Authority rejected Hamas's accusation.

Three men identified by Hamas as suspects involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout with its forces in Gaza on March 22.

The Gaza Interior Ministry presented video confessions by four men it is holding in custody, who it said were part of that cell guided by the PA officers, who are based in the West Bank. It presented no further evidence.

The assassination attempt has derailed efforts to end a deep divide between the two main Palestinian factions - Hamas, which dominates Gaza, and Abbas's Fatah, the main force in the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, told a separate news conference that the suspects "wanted to kill reconciliation".

Al-Bozom said the suspected Palestinian Authority officers were also behind an attempt to kill Hamas's head of security Tawfeeq Abu Naeem in October in Gaza.

A spokesman for the Authority's security services blamed Hamas for the March 13 blast. "The more Hamas tries to evade responsibility, the deeper it sinks," Adnan al-Dmairi told Reuters by telephone. </s> An official in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip accused a senior intelligence officer in the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, on March 13.

Rami Hamdallah’s convoy was attacked just after it crossed through the Israeli-controlled Erez checkpoint, known to Palestinians as Beit Hanoun. He was unharmed but seven security guards were wounded in the blast.

Iyad al-Bozom, the spokesman for the Hamas government’s interior ministry, said at a press conference on Saturday in Gaza:

“Our investigations were clear and complete. We are not accusing the Palestinian Intelligence, but in the course of our investigation we discovered that Brigadier-General Baha Balousha of the intelligence department orchestrated the attack.”

Al-Bozom said the suspected Palestinian Authority officers were also behind an attempt to kill Hamas’s head of security Tawfeeq Abu Naeem in October in Gaza.

Osama al-Qawasmi, a spokesman for Fatah, the main Palestinian faction in Ramallah where the PA operates, denied the allegations in a statement, and accused Bozom of engaging in “misleading theatrics”.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of orchestrating the explosion that targeted Hamdallah’s convoy. </s> Leaders of Gaza's Islamist group Hamas on Saturday publicly accused the rival Palestinian Authority (PA) of planning an assassination attempt against the head of its own government.

PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was not hurt when a roadside bomb hit his convoy on 13 March during a rare visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Hamdallah heads the PA's West Bank-based government under the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas.

Relations between the two largest Palestinian groups are worsening, six months after they signed a reconciliation deal aimed at ending a decade-long split.

The explosion put an end to an already faltering reconciliation agreement between Hamas and secularists Fatah, which dominates the PA.

Hamas: Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Service was behind the bombing of the convoy of PM Rami Hamdallah in Gaza Strip last month. pic.twitter.com/EDZOEBuqPi — Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) April 28, 2018

Continued finger-pointing over the roadside bomb attack on Hamdallah's convoy looks likely to deepen the already bitter political rift.

After the blast, Abbas had accused Hamas of carrying out the bombing.

On Saturday a spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry in Gaza accused senior PA security officials of orchestrating the attack to destabilise the coastal territory.

"Investigations have shown that senior figures in the General Intelligence Service in Ramallah [the PA's de facto administrative capital] are the engine of subversive cells that are working to undermine security in the Gaza Strip," spokesman Iyad Buzum told a news conference.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations, and the PA rejected Hamas's accusation.

Three men identified by Hamas as suspects involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout with its forces in Gaza on 22 March.
Two men accused of an attempt to assassinate Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah die in a shootout with security forces. Two Hamas security personnel also die.