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Hamas accuses Abbas of trying to kill Haniyeh
The prime minister’s son and one of his advisers were injured. There was crossfire and clashes at Rafah airport. Tension is increasing between Fatah and Hamas.
Gaza City (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Hamas movement has accused the presidential guard of Mahmud Abbas of an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh last night. Shots were fired against the prime minister’s convoy at the exit of Rafah airport, killing one and wounding dozens, including Abed, Haniyeh’s 27-year-old son, and his political adviser Ahmed Youssef. This morning, Abbas said he was “sorry” about what happened and his presidential guard denied responsibility for the attack.
But Hamas insists that the airport security guards opened fire in a bid to “assassinate” the prime minister. The incident has deepened rivalry between Hamas and Fatah: the two factions are locked in a struggle that threatens to erupt into civil war among the Palestinians.
Haniyeh was held up at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza for around eight hours on his return from a trip to Iran and other Muslim countries, from where he had collected million. Israel blocked his way, saying it would let Haniyeh through only if he left the money behind in Egypt, to prevent the funding of terrorist actions.
The delay in Haniyeh’s journey sparked late night crossfire between armed Hamas supporters, Egyptian guards and Abbas guards. Launching attacks on the airport throughout the night, Hamas militants destroyed computers, the electricity infrastructure, furniture and offices, plunging the place into darkness.
For nearly a year, Israel has enforced an economic embargo, accepted by the European Union and the United States, against the government of Hamas to prevent funds and aid from going to support terrorist actions. To counter the impact of the embargo, Haniyeh and other Hamas members started to look for funds from abroad. In his trip, Haniyeh was promised at least 10 million dollars by Sudan and 250 million from Iran.
The Palestinian prime minister had to cut his trip abroad short because of escalating tensions between the Hamas and Fatah grops. On 11 December, the sons of a Hamas security chief were brutally murdered. In a bid to get the embargo – aimed at Hamas – lifted, Abbas suggested new elections. But for Hamas, who won the election in January, this would be tantamount to a coup d’etat.