Hamas says car-bomb was planted by Israel

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, yesterday buried two young men killed by a car-bomb in central Gaza City on Monday. The funeral, attended by the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and the entire leadership, took place in the main Omari Mosque. A procession to the cemetery followed.

The explosion devastated the home of Mr Hisham Abu Khaled, a Hamas sympathiser. Mr Abdel Karim Madhoun (17) and Mr Muhammad Abu Khaled (19) were killed outright, and the latter's sister was badly burnt. The bomb exploded in a car a few minutes after it was parked in front of the Abu Khaled home.

Hamas blamed the blast on Israel, calling it a "sophisticated assassination attack" and suggesting that helicopters hovering overhead had activated the device. Palestinian newspapers reported yesterday that Monday's attacks in Gaza City and Ramallah, taking a toll of five, were co-ordinated and part of Israel's military campaign to eliminate Hamas and Fateh activists. The Palestinian Authority's intelligence chief, Mr Amin al-Hindi, agreed.

Hamas retaliated in the West Bank with a drive-by shooting which killed an Israeli motorist, Mr Assaf Hershkowitz (31), whose father died in a similar attack in January.

The low-level war of attrition between Hamas and Israel has been transformed into a tit-for-tat duel. In an unrelated incident in the southern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian policeman was killed and three were wounded in a gun battle with Israeli forces.

During the morning cars drove slowly past the hollow shells of the two houses and al-Amal (Hope) Hotel next door, also wrecked by the blast. Friends and acquaintances offering condolences to family members huddled solemnly on rows of plastic chairs installed across the street beneath a blue and white striped marquee.

Readings from the Koran were broadcast by a loudspeaker, and bitter black coffee was served to mourners. Children hung about gaping at the wreckage and the mound of blood-spattered rubble.

The Palestinians have survived the economic and social devastation wreaked by the seven-month uprising so far because they belong to an old-fashioned clan-based society. Dr Haidar Abdel Shafi (82), who headed the Palestinian delegation to the 1991 Madrid peace conference, told The Irish Times that people were relying on family and community.

Dr Shafi, the leading independent opposition figure here, was sharply critical of the Palestine Authority. "Since it never properly organised, it has not been able to respond in an effective and orderly fashion," he said. Consequently, the authority, already castigated for betting on the peace process, has lost further credibility.