Gaza group claims attack a pretext for violence against Palestinians.
By BY AP, KHALED ABU TOAMEH, TOVAH LAZAROFFHamas leader Khaled Mashaal(photo credit: AP)
Hamas accused Israel Saturday of launching the rockets that struck near Eilat and Jordan last week, as a pretext for further attacks against the Palestinians. The six rockets killed one and wounded three more at the Intercontinental Hotel in Aqaba.The terrorist group denied being behind the attacks, saying it had "no interest" in launching the rockets, also denying they were fired from the Sinai in Egypt.RELATED:PM, Egypt blame Hamas for rocketsHamas rockets seen as a bid to foil talksBoth Israel and Egypt blamed the attacks on Hamas, who denied any involvement.“We investigated these two incidents. It is clear to us beyond any doubt that in both incidents a cell of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza surreptitiously fired the missiles,” Netanyahu said. “I want to be clear: Using the territory of a third country — a peaceful one — in order to launch missiles against Israel won’t help Hamas escape responsibility.”Though Egypt initially denied the rockets were launched from the Sinai, it later changed its tune and affirmed that they had, blaming militant groups in the Gaza Strip for the action, which they said had infiltrated via smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
