Hamas security chief in Gaza survives assassination bid

Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh visits Tawfiq Abu Naim, director general of the internal security forces, at a hospital in Gaza City after he survived an assassination attempt on 27 October 2017. [Ismail Haniyeh’s office]

Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh visits Tawfiq Abu Naim, director general of the internal security forces, at a hospital in Gaza City after he survived an assassination attempt on 27 October 2017. [Ismail Haniyeh’s office]

A truck carries director general of the internal security forces Tawfeeq Abu Naeem’s car after it exploded, in the central Gaza Strip. The head of Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip was injured on 27 October 2017 when his car exploded in what the Hamas interior ministry called a failed assassination attempt. [Atia Darwish/Apaimages]

Palestinian policemen stand guard after Tawfiq Abu Naim’s car exploded. The director general of the internal security forces in the central Gaza Strip survived an assassination attempt on 27 October 2017. [Atia Darwish/Apaimages]

Head of the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run security apparatus Tawfiq Abu Naim. [Atia Darwish/Apaimages]

The head of the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run security apparatus survived an assassination attempt today, according to Gaza’s Interior Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said that Tawfiq Abu Naim had been “moderately injured” in an assassination attempt and was receiving treatment at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.

“The security services have since launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident and find the perpetrators,” the statement read.

A local security source, speaking anonymously due to the issue’s sensitivity, told the Anadolu Agency that Abu Naim had been injured when a bomb planted in his car exploded following Friday prayers.

Read: Israel defence minister may gain ‘totalitarian’-style powers

In a subsequent statement, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum described today’s assassination bid as a “cowardly act” committed by “the enemies of the Palestinian people”.

“The would-be assassins failed in their effort to harm Gaza’s security, the unity of our people, and the [Palestinian] national interest,” Barhoum declared.

He went on to urge Gaza’s security apparatus to “bring the criminals to justice and act firmly with those who would try to harm our people’s security”.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing.