Member of Hamas’s political bureau Salah al-Bardawil has said that Palestinian premier Rami al-Hamdallah received and concealed important information on the recent bombing that targeted his motorcade in the northern Gaza Strip.
In remarks to al-Jazeera satellite channel on Tuesday Bardawil said that his Movement firmly believes that the bombing incident was aimed at leveling accusations against it and frustrating the reconciliation efforts.
He affirmed that the Ramallah-based interior ministry which is also run by Hamdallah acquired important information about the incident from Wataniya mobile telecommunication company without sharing it with the investigation committee in Gaza adding that Hamas cooperated with Ramallah and provided it with all information about the blast.
“The bombs used to target the motorcade of Hamdallah were connected to a secrete cellphone number and a letter was sent to Wataniya in this regard but it gave its information to interior minister Rami al-Hamdallah” he said pointing out that the security authorities in the West Bank refused to share this information with its counterparts in Gaza.
He stressed that the bombing incident was a plot aimed at dealing a strong blow to Hamas which condemned the incident and accused the Israeli occupation state of being behind it criticizing Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas for hastening to make unjustified accusations against Hamas.
The Hamas official asserted that the security services in Gaza had been dealing seriously and professionally with the incident since its occurrence adding that and the moment of truth would definitely come.
“It concerns us that Gaza remains a safe place and that we could capture this criminal who dealt a blow to the security authorities in Gaza” he said.
“Luckily a second explosive device has led to the tip of the thread and how the detonation happened so there was a search for the last contact and when it was found it led to a secret number which was hidden and the company (Wataniya) did not disclose it” he noted.
Bardawil expressed his shock and dismay at the hasty accusations leveled by Fatah and Palestinian Authority officials against Hamas a few minutes after the bombing incident as well as at the recent threats made by Abbas against Gaza without seeking to know the truth.
“Does anyone in the universe believe that the fate of an entire people is dependent on the mood of one person or organization? If this person or organization has the cards of power and international regional or local connections that make him able to turn his back [to his people] he will not be able to persist in this approach” the Hamas official underscored referring to Abbas.
“Abbas’s speech and steps were prepared in advance and we have already known about them and made contacts with factions Arab countries and parties to move to address the matter” he said.
He emphasized that Gaza had survived three successive wars and there would be no value for Abbas’s new punitive measures against it adding that his Movement “is not in trouble and the Palestinian people will be creative to solve the crises facing them.”
“Yahya al-Sinwar (Hamas leader in Gaza) was keen and serious to the utmost extent about the reconciliation and partnership in everything and he was blamed by some factions for making concessions and being flexible. We also sent a message to Abbas about the partnership in the decision-making at times of war and peace and that the resistance weapon will not be used to settle differences” he pointed out.
In a related context Bardawil said that his Movement was studying an Egyptian request asking Hamas to send a delegation to Cairo affirming there is Egyptian keenness on the security and stability of the Gaza Strip.
As for the plan to deal with the current situation he said that “Hamas’s first option is to achieve unity and partnership to confront the [US-backed] deal of the century” but if Abbas persisted in his approach the Movement had the plans and means to unite the Palestinian people.
“MP Mohamed Dahlan is not plan B but he is part of the Palestinian fabric” he noted.
