Bianco Resort, one of the Gaza Strip’s most luxurious seaside tourist sites, was attacked last Thursday with an explosive device.
The attack came after the resort was accused by Muslim extremists of holding a mixed-gender concert. No one was hurt, but a wall surrounding the resort was damaged.
Palestinian Association of Restaurants, Hotels and Tourism Services condemns as immoral the targeting of Bianco Resort in the Gaza Strip with an explosive device. The resort was accused of holding a mixed party for men and women. pic.twitter.com/lDoMcJdewW
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) August 8, 2021
Palestinian sources accused terrorists belonging to Salafi-Jihadist groups of being behind the attack.
Members of Islamic State (ISIS)-inspired groups in the Gaza Strip accused the resort of holding a music concert for men and women on the beach of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.
Some members of the groups said they had warned the owner against holding the event, but he ignored the warning.
Salafi-Jihadist terrorists have regularly clashed with Hamas members in the Gaza Strip over the past decade. Hamas has also arrested or killed some members of the groups.
On August 5, Issa Miqdad, one of the men affiliated with the groups, wrote on Facebook: “Today we went to Bianco Resort in order to deny the evil before it happens, as this resort will hold a mixed singing party tomorrow on the beach of Beit Lahiya. Therefore, we ask the [Hamas] government to stop this evil before it happens. I call on all preachers and sheikhs to publicly denounce this evil after the owner refused our request not to hold the party.”
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reacted with mixed feelings to the bombing of the resort. Some expressed appreciation for the perpetrators, while others denounced the attack.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemned the attack and said it was aimed at intimidating the residents of the Gaza Strip.
“PCHR points out that this resort is a modern and private investment project that opened in the middle of last month and was built on an area of 12 dunams, employing about 120 workers, and it has been very popular since its inauguration,” the center said in a statement. “We stress the importance of supporting such projects, which contribute to supporting domestic tourism, upgrading the Palestinian economy, creating job opportunities for young people and mitigating the effects of the siege [on the Gaza Strip].”
It demanded that legal measures be taken against all those involved in “this criminal act.”
According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 11:55 Friday night, unknown persons planted an explosive device next to the northeastern wall of the resort and detonated it. The explosion resulted in the collapse of parts of the wall.
A man came to the resort last Wednesday and demanded that the staff cancel a concert that was scheduled to take place the following evening, said the resort’s owner, Suhail al-Saqqa, who rejected the request. He said he had obtained a permit from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior.
Some suspects have been arrested in connection with the bombing, a source close to Hamas said.
A number of Palestinian factions, including the PLO’s Leninist-Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Palestinian People’s Party (formerly the Palestinian Communist Party) condemned the attack on the resort and called on Hamas to find the perpetrators.
The explosion reflected the growing influence of ISIS-inspired groups in the Gaza Strip, the factions said.