Hamas says 3 Palestinians in Gaza assisted in August 5 border terror attack

Arabic daily says Egypt wants the three extradited, but that Hamas denies receiving such a request

A Hamas security official said three Palestinians taking refuge in Gaza provided technical assistance to the terrorists behind the Israel-Sinai border attack earlier this month, Al-Hayat reported Saturday.

According to the London-based Arabic daily, the three men who assisted in the attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers on August 5 are affiliated with Salafi groups.

The paper also reported that Egypt asked Gaza to extradite the men but Hamas denied receiving such a request.

In the wake of the terror attack, Hamas clamped down on other radical Islamist groups in Gaza.

Several members of Salafi organizations that identify with al-Qaeda were reportedly called in for interrogation by Hamas. Hamas also arrested Salafi leader Sheikh Abu Suhaib Rashwan, an alleged member of the terrorist organization Tawhid wal Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni in 2011.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is planning to reshuffle his cabinet.

In May, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also shook up his cabinet in the West Bank. Seven new ministers were brought in, angering Hamas, which has been in on-and-off talks to form a national unity government with Fatah.