Hamas accuses PA of providing vital security information to Israel
Hamas says PA security forces provided Israel with details about figures and houses not only from Hamas, but also Fatah and Islamic Jihad.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHA view of the northern Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli farming community of Netiv Haasara(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas said on Tuesday that it has evidence that the Palestinian Authority’s security forces had provided Israel with information that led to the killings of Palestinians and the demolition of houses during Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip last summer.Salah Bardaweel, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, told the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aksa TV station that his movement possesses documents proving that the PA security forces had supplied Israel with details about figures and houses not only associated with Hamas, but also with Fatah and Islamic Jihad.The documents would be presented to top Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed during his upcoming visit to the Gaza Strip, Bardaweel said, adding that Hamas is also planning to present the documents to representatives of various Palestinian factions.In addition, he accused unnamed Fatah officials and PA security forces of supplying the Egyptian authorities with “false and misleading” information in a bid to incite Cairo against Hamas.Last week, an Egyptian court banned Hamas’s armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, dubbing it a terrorist group.Some Egyptians have accused Hamas of involvement in the last terrorist attacks in Sinai that killed 31 soldiers and wounded dozens others. Hamas has strongly denied any link to the attacks, which Islamic State claimed responsibility for.Also on Tuesday, Hamas accused the Egyptian army of opening fire at two of its security installations in the southern Gaza Strip.Eyad al-Bazam, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, said that the shooting incident was a “dangerous development.” He called on the Egyptian authorities to launch a quick investigation into the “unprovoked and unjustified” shooting.Sources in the Gaza Strip said that Egyptian soldiers opened fire at the installations in Rafah shortly after a powerful explosion was heard on the Egyptian side of the border.No one was hurt in the incident.
An Egyptian military source denied the Hamas claims, saying the soldiers did not open fire at the installations along the border with the Gaza Strip.Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas claimed Tuesday that the movement’s security forces have arrested “one of the most dangerous spies” for Israel in the Gaza Strip.
