Hamas says it captured cell behind Gaza suicide bombings that killed 3 cops
Official says 10 arrested following investigation into attack blamed on Islamic State sympathizers
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The Hamas terror group on Thursday said it had captured the cell responsible for carrying out suicide bombing attacks that killed three policeman in the Gaza Strip earlier this week.
Senior Hamas official Moussa Mohammed Abu Marzouk said 10 members of the cell had been arrested. He did not provide further details.
Channel 13 news reported that according to Palestinian sources in the Strip, the prisoners were being beaten and abused by their Hamas captors.
Two suicide bombers hit police checkpoints near Gaza City on Tuesday evening, killing three Hamas policemen. Witnesses told AFP that both bombings were carried out by assailants on motorbikes.
A source familiar with the investigation said a Salafist movement in Gaza that sympathizes with the Islamic State jihadist group was suspected.
Hamas, the Islamic terrorist organization that controls Gaza, has frequently come into conflict with supporters of more extreme jihadist organizations in the Strip and recently undertook operations against members of IS. Last year, the group’s Sinai branch declared war on Hamas, calling the group and its supporters “apostates.”
The ministry initially blamed the Tuesday blast on Israel, but later retracted the claim, while the Israeli military said it had not carried out any air raids at the time of the bombings.
The Times of Israel Community.