Hamas blames Palestinians for attempt on PM’s life

GAZA, Apr 29 (Reuters): Gaza's ruling Hamas group blamed Palestinian Authority officials on Saturday for the attempted assassination in the enclave of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on March 13.

Finger-pointing over the roadside bomb attack on Hamdallah's convoy looks likely to deepen a bitter political rift between the Islamist Hamas group and Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas blamed the attack on Hamas soon after the incident in Gaza, in which Hamdallah, who has spearheaded efforts by the Authority to reconcile with Hamas, was not injured.

But Eyad al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, told a news conference on Saturday that three senior officers of Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority had masterminded the blast.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations and the Authority rejected Hamas's accusation.

Three men identified by Hamas as suspects involved in the bombing were killed in a shootout with its forces in Gaza on March 22.

The Gaza Interior Ministry presented video confessions by four men it is holding in custody, who it said were part of that cell guided by the PA officers, who are based in the West Bank.