Date: Mar 14, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Bomb targets convoy of Palestinian PM GAZA CITY, Palestine: A bomb blast targeted Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s convoy during a rare visit to the Gaza Strip Tuesday, leaving him unhurt but provoking outrage over what officials called an assassination attempt. The attack is likely to further increase tensions between Hamas – which denied any involvement – and President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah, with a reconciliation agreement between the two all but dead. At least six people were wounded, with none of their injuries believed to be life-threatening. A security source in Gaza said the convoy was also fired on by unknown gunmen at the time of the explosion, before Hamas security forces sealed off the area. After the attack, Hamdallah briefly appeared at the opening of a wastewater treatment facility in Gaza before cutting short his visit and returning to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where his government is based. In the West Bank, Abbas blamed Hamas for the blast. But his security chief, Majed Farraj, who was in the convoy and was another potential target of the blast, said it was “too early” to say who was responsible. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Radical Islamists opposed to Hamas also operate in the Gaza Strip and have regularly caused unrest. The Hamas Interior Ministry said they had arrested three suspects and begun an investigation. A statement from Hamas condemned the attack, saying it was done by the “same hands” responsible for the assassination of one senior Hamas figure, Mazen Faqha, and the attempted assassination of another last year. Hamas blamed the killing of Faqha on Israel. The second attack, an explosion targeting Hamas’ head of security in Gaza, is widely believed to have been the work of radical Islamists. Hamas criticized Abbas’ accusation, saying it “achieved the goals of the criminals.” The explosion came a few hundred meters after Hamdallah’s convoy crossed through the Israel-controlled crossing into Hamas-controlled territory. Two cars with blown-out windows were being removed from the scene of the explosion shortly afterward, an AFP correspondent reported. The visit came as reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party have faltered. Hamas and Fatah signed a deal in October that was supposed to see the movement hand back power in Gaza, but it has all but collapsed. While Hamas did hand over control of Gaza’s borders to the PA, it maintains full control of the rest of Gaza, with its police force and armed wing still operating throughout the territory. The future of that armed wing has proved one of the largest sticking points in implementing the reconciliation agreement, with Hamas refusing calls to disarm. Hamdallah vowed to press ahead with reconciliation efforts and called for Hamas to allow his government to take control in Gaza. “This will not deter from seeking to end the bitter split. We will still come to Gaza,” he said. He said the attack underscored the need for the Palestinians to unify under a single authority. “How can a government overtake Gaza without maintaining security?”