Haaretz (Saturday): At least 15 killed in Hamas rally explosion in Gaza

[Jack Rabbit]

From Haaretz (Tel Aviv)
Dated Saturday September 24

At least 15 killed in Hamas rally explosion in Gaza
By Amos Harel and Arnon regular, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

A series of large explosions erupted at a Hamas rally in Gaza City on Friday, killing at least 15 Palestinians and wounding 80.

Hospital sources said that the dead included two children and several gunmen. Hamas reported that three of its militants were killed in the explosions, including As'ad Rian, the brother of Nizar Rian, a senior member of the Hamas political wing.

The explosions were believed to have been set off when a pickup truck carrying masked militants and laden with weapons blew up. Palestinian security officials said the blast was apparently caused by the mishandling of explosives.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction placed the responsibility for the explosions with Hamas. "The Fatah Central Committee holds the Hamas movement fully responsible for the victims of the military parade (that was held) among civilians," the committee said in a statement.

But in a press conference several hours after the incident, Hamas officials claimed that the rockets displayed during the rally were dummies that did not contain explosives. They also slammed the Palestinian Authority for blaming Hamas for the blasts.

Read more.

[Violet_Crumble]

1. If those rockets were Qassams...

..this is by far the most death and injury caused by any use of them. The claim of Hamas that they parade dummy weapons containing no explosives is a load of crap, obviously done in an attempt to divert anger away from them. And there should be a lot of anger - children died, and I agree with Abbas that Hamas is fully responsible for their deaths...

Violet...