A Palestinian has been arrested in the Gaza Strip under suspicion of planting a bomb at the headquarters of the Central Elections Committee, Maan News Agency has reported.Security personnel in Gaza detained the man, who Hamas have claimed is not aligned with any political faction, but ‘was working for someone in Ramallah’, and it is alleged that the bomb was set to detonate when commission staff arrived.
The CEC was granted permission to restart work in the Gaza Strip last month in anticipation for upcoming elections following progress in the unity initiative between the Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The CEC being allowed to restart work was one of the conditions stipulated by PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his team in the Doha Agreement.
Relations between Fatah and Hamas plummeted following the 2006 elections in both the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas became the dominant political party following the 2006 legislative elections, widely considered to be free and fair.
Military conflict broke out following increased tensions, with allegations of involvement from the US and Israel, leading to a political split between the two Palestinian territories, with Hamas retaining control of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank.
