Gazans: Explosion Wounding 40 Was Hamas' Fault

Imagine my surprise when Gazans themselves accuse and admit that a massive explosion beneath a Hamas terror-master was the result of a Hamas bomb making operation. The terror group was using the house to prepare bombs for use against Israel:

The Deir el-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was rocked Monday by an explosion centered in an uninhabited house belonging to Alaa al-Danaf, a field commander of Izzadin Kassam, the military wing of Hamas.

Izzadin Kassam blamed the explosion on Israel, claiming it was an assassination attempt on their field commanders.

But speaking on the condition of anonymity, camp residents told The Media Line that Hamas was using the house to store weapons. Neighbors said that in the past they had appealed to Hamas to cease their activities in the camp, but were quickly silenced.

The testimony confirms the IDF’s denial of any Israeli involvement in the explosion.

An IDF representative told The Media Line that the Israel Air Force was not active in Deir el- Balah at the time.

“Usually when such explosions occur the armed groups in Gaza announce it’s Israel’s fault,” Hamdi Shaqqura, deputy director for program affairs at the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line.

“But our investigations often find that this is not the case.”

Shaqqura said armed groups try to hide the existence of bombs in residential areas, because local residents “would not agree to live on a barrel of explosives.”

The part in bold bears repeating: “Usually when such explosions occur the armed groups in Gaza announce it’s Israel’s fault,” Hamdi Shaqqura, deputy director for program affairs at the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line. “But our investigations often find that this is not the case.”

That's right folks. We've got a Palestinian human rights group finding Hamas responsible in preparing weapons and explosive for use against Israel in civilian areas so as to maximize the carnage should Israel attack those facilities. Hamas is also quick to blame Israel when those bombmaking operations blow up in their faces, just as it did earlier this week. It's a win-win for Hamas' propaganda, but the Gazans lose.

The more Hamas gets exposed for these kinds of activities within Gaza, the better. Gazans have to understand that Hamas is responsible for their miserable plight - that their vote to empower and enable Hamas has had dire consequences that could have been averted had they instead sought peace with Israel.