RAMALLAH, March 13, 2018 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said upon his return to Ramallah on Tuesday coming from the Gaza Strip where he escaped an assassination attempt that the attack against his convoy was well prepared and the bomb was buried two meters into the ground.

Hamdallah, who was received by a large crowd of officials and from the public, described the attack at “a cowardly act that doesn’t represent the Palestinian unity and neither the Palestinian people.”

Hamdallah told the crowd that seven of his body guards travelling in the convoy were injured and they were admitted to Ramallah hospital for treatment.

Hamdallah called on Hamas, the de facto authority in Gaza, to empower the government in the Gaza Strip as demanded in the reconciliation agreement and turn over the internal security operations to the government, adding “how can a government operate without security.”

The Prime minister stressed that “this attack will not prevent us from completing our work in Gaza and achieving national reconciliation,” adding,  “We will continue working until we return to Gaza and unify our ranks. There will be no homeland without Gaza.”

T.R./M.K.