Hamas heighten security near Egyptian border amid Islamic State attack

Locals said that a number of army checkpoints were set up in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, near Gaza’s border with Egypt.
2 min read
18 August, 2017
Hamas are stepping up security in the besieged enclave [AFP]
Hamas security forces tightened security in Gaza on Thursday after a suicide bombing near the Egyptian border. 

The assailant, along with a Hamas security guard, were killed in the attack while four others were injured.

According to Bethlehem based Ma’an News Agency, Hamas security forces, along with members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades were heavily deployed in areas in southern Gaza, close to the Egyptian border.

Locals said that a number of army checkpoints were set up in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, near Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Members of al-Qassam Brigades said that the group will “confront all threats and defend Gaza’s people and lands from foreign attacks.”

Meanwhile, the family of the attacker have refused to hold a funeral for him under the basis that his actions were fundamentally un-Islamic.

Thursday’s attack was the first time Hamas security forces have been targeted by a suicide bomber in Gaza.

"A security force stopped two persons who approached the border. One of them blew himself up and was killed. The other was wounded," the Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The Hamas man, named as 28-year-old Naim al-Jaafari, died after being rushed to hospital along with several others who were wounded.

Security sources said the assailant was a member of the Islamic State group. 

Egypt's Sinai region, which borders the Gaza Strip, has in recent years been a restive hotbed of militant Islamist activity.

Hamas has in response stepped up security patrol to prevent the movement of "Jihadist Salafis" between Gaza and Egypt, where the Egyptian army is battling IS group affiliates.