A Hamas-led security force said today it found a bomb outside the parliament building in the Gaza Strip, a development that could fuel tensions between governing Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
"We have thwarted a bombing attack against the parliament headquarters," said Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas's Executive Force that polices the territory.
He said the bomb contained 15 kilos of explosives and was placed at the parliamentary compound's gate.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in fighting against Fatah three months ago. Tensions between the two groups continue to be high and have erupted in violence in the Gaza Strip in a series of Fatah-organized open-air prayer meetings, banned by Hamas, over the past several weeks.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops killed an armed Palestinian today after shooting broke out between two feuding Palestinian familiesnear a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian residents and medics said that in addition to the man killed in the incident, five other Palestinians were wounded.