ISIS role eyed in bombings of Hamas, other militants
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - At least four explosions rocked Gaza City early Sunday, targeting cars belonging to officials from Islamic factions, including the territory's Hamas rulers. There was no claim of responsibility, but speculation immediately centered on supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who have been battling with Hamas and other Islamic groups in the small coastal strip.
Hamas recently launched a fierce crackdown on alleged ISIS supporters and witnesses said a freshly painted ISIS flag was seen at the site of the explosions.
The charred vehicles were parked outside the houses of the local officials in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. Khader Mahmoud, a 32-year-old witness, said the blasts occurred seconds apart from each other, just after 6 a.m.
Ayman Sahabani of Gaza City's Shifa hospital said the blasts slightly wounded a young woman and a man.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said an investigation had been launched.
Extremists in Gaza inspired by ISIS have attacked Hamas positions in the past and have also fired rockets at Israel in an attempt to undermine Hamas by violating the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that followed last year's war. The extremists believe Hamas is soft on Israel and has failed to properly establish Islamic rule in the territory.
The attack is sure to put greater pressure on Hamas, which Israel has said it blames for any attacks on its territory that originate in Gaza.
ISIS has stepped up its activity considerably in the area around southern Israel and Gaza recently. In the Sinai, which borders Gaza, an Egyptian navy vessel was recently targeted by militants affiliated with ISIS, who said they destroyed it with a rocket while it was anchored off the Sinai peninsula's Mediterranean coast.
The Egyptian ISIS affiliate, which calls itself the Sinai Province of the ISIS, has been fighting an increasingly pitched battle with Egyptian security forces.