Pat Dollard

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25 / 07 / 2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Four are dead and twenty injured after the car of a Hamas leader in Gaza exploded west of Gaza City Friday evening.

One of the dead is reported to be Amar Mussubyih, who was wanted by the Israeli army. He was a prominent leader of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in the area west of Gaza City. Also killed were Iyad Al-Hayah, nephew of local Hamas leader Khalil Al-Haya and Nidal Mabiad. All are affiliated to the Al-Qassam Brigades.

The fourth death was that of an unidentified little girl.

Ihab Al-Ghussain, spokesperson for the de facto ministry of the interior, said that the reasons behind the explosion are unknown. He affirmed that Gaza police will search for the perpetrators, though he did not rule out the idea that the deaths were the result of “outsourcing” by the Israeli army.

This is the third explosion in Gaza on Friday. Earlier in the day, one Palestinian was killed in the first blast at Ag-Gazira café in the centre of the city. The man dead was assumed to have been the bomber.

Shortly after the café bombing there was another explosion outside the house of Dr Marwan Abu Ras, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, also in Gaza City, though no one was injured.