(KUNA) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas escaped an assassination attempt last week, the Israeli Yediot Ahronot daily reported on Sunday. "Four large explosive devices were uncovered by Abbas' security officers on the road leading from the Erez crossing to Gaza, as the Palestinian president left Ramallah and was about to travel on that route," the paper said.
Upon discovering the devices, Abbas' security officers instructed him to return to Ramallah. The explosive devices were detonated by sappers of the Presidential Guard. The assassination attempt took place while the Palestinian president was on his way to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to discuss the establishment of a national unity government.
The Israeli newspaper quoted Palestinian sources as blaming the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for the attempt on Abbas' life. Palestinian security forces claimed last week that they had uncovered what they called a large network of tunnels at Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza Strip where explosive devices were planted. Fatah accused Hamas' supporters of planning to assassinate its leaders, chiefly Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and its member of the Legislative Council Mohamed Dahlan, a charge which Hamas emphatically dismissed as baseless. |