The Attorney General of Gaza, Ahmad Al Mughanni, declared that the final results of the investigations into the Jabalya explosion, which occurred during a Hamas rally on September 23 and left 23 Palestinians dead and dozens wounded, revealed that a makeshift shell made by Hamas caused the explosion, the International Press Center (IPC) reported.
In a press conference held at the IPC in Gaza, Al Mughanni said that from the first moments of the explosion, an investigation team was dispatched to the hospitals, where they questioned many of the injured citizens.
He further declared that the eyewitness accounts asserted that a ‘Magnum’ jeep loaded with three to four makeshift ‘Qassam’ shells was driving through a military rally for Hamas, when it hit a bump on the road, causing one of the rockets to fall and explode, after which the rest of the rockets caught fire and exploded.
AG Al Mughanni, quoted an explosives expert in the Palestinian police as saying that the shrapnel extracted from the scene of the explosion has been proven to be those of metal pipes used in local-made rockets.
He added that Hamas refrained, so far, to allow the Palestinian experts to examine the exploded car nor the pieces of wreckage.
‘Until this moment, we didn’t receive any response from Hamas or from the legislator Ibrahim Abul Naja, who heads the follow-up committee for national and Islamic factions, to the request we made in September 29, which forced us to conclude our investigations and declare the results,’ Al Mughanni said.
Hamas said it won’t allow the Palestinian sappers to examine the car until the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas withdraws his statement that the explosion was internal.
Meanwhile, sapper Mohammed Al Kahlout presented several parts and shrapnel taken from the scene, explaining that the explosion of the first rocket in the car caused the fuel material of the other rockets to catch fire and, thereby, explode.
‘The material of the shell’s fuel is an extract of Potassium Nitrate, which is commonly manufactured locally as shells fuel. That’s why the explosion of this material sent out the white pillar of smoke you all saw when the explosion happened,’ Al Kahlout told reporters.
Palestinian sappers and medics proved that the shrapnel extracted from the bodies of the killed and wounded are of Hamas shells.
Hamas had presented shrapnel that included electronic chips said to be extracted from bodies of the victims, in a press conference held shortly after the explosion occurred.
Concluding the press conference, Attorney General Al Mughanni promised to bring to justice all those responsible for killing civilians and to continue investigations into several other unsolved cases in the Palestinian society, as part of the Palestinian National Authority’s efforts to enforce law and order and maintain security and safety.
Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman of Hamas in the Gaza Strip accused the report of lacking evidence and objectivity, adding that the material presented in the PA’s conference was not collected from the scene.
He further said that this report ‘insults the Palestinian people as while the Israeli aggression against the people increases, this press conference is organized to indict Hamas.’
Abu Zuhri denied that the Palestinian Authority official requested Hamas to hand in the exploded car for inspection. He said ‘we do not trust the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and the security forces under its authority who declared three minutes after the explosion accusing Hamas of being responsible for it.’
He demanded the PA Attorney General to present the results of the probe in the ‘cement scandal’ and the death of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the assassination of Mousa Arafat.
