PalestineWest Asia

Bomb blast targets Hamas security HQ in Gaza; ISIL blamed

7c6290d4-60e1-4b1a-88a9-8e579d2d5d78

A bomb explosion has targeted the security headquarters of Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip after an ISIL-linked Salafi group demanded the release of its members from Hamas’ jails.

The Monday blast took place in Gaza City just prior to dawn and damaged the building’s perimeter wall, the AFP reported citing witnesses.

An online statement issued by a radical anti-Hamas Takfiri group just hours before the blast threatened to “act against chosen targets” if its captive members were not released within 72 hours.

However, it was not immediately clear if the statement and the explosion were linked since the Takfiri elements in Gaza have issued similar threats in the past.

“Hamas and its security forces have 72 hours from the release of this statement to free all Salafist prisoners,” said the statement from a group calling itself the Supporters of the ISIL in al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Meanwhile, the majority of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip reportedly reject the ISIL, according to a March 2015 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

The survey found that 86 percent of those polled believed the ISIL is a “radical group that does not represent true Islam.”

Back to top button