"We will not permit this scene to repeat itself," Hamas leader Mahmoud
Zahar, a former foreign minister, said.
The Hamas regime blamed the opposition Fatah movement for the blasts.
Within hours, Hamas security forces detained scores of Fatah members and
closed dozens of
Fatah-aligned sports clubs and organizations.
"This is proof that Fatah is not interested in resuming any dialogue,"
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said.
A group called Al Awda Brigades claimed responsibility for the cafe
attack. Al Awda said it was aligned with Fatah, a claim rejected by the
movement.
"The turn will come for all those who shared in executing and
liquidating our people," the Al Awda statement read. "Our revenge will reach
all members of the black militias of the Executive Force and leaders of
[Hamas military wing Izzedin Al] Kassam."
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that 160 people, most
of them from Gaza City and northern Gaza, were arrested by Hamas's Executive
Force. The group said the Fatah detainees were being interrogated in Gaza
Central Prison in Gaza City.
The cafe strike was one of three bombings around Gaza City on July 25.
The home of a Hamas leader, identified as Marwan Abu Rass, was rocked by an
explosion. Nobody was injured.
The first bombing was said to have targeted a Christian cafe in Gaza
City. A Palestinian, suspected of being a suicide bomber, was killed and
three others were injured on early July 25.
"This was a man of extreme thinking," Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman
Ihab Al Hussein said.
At the same time, Palestinian gunners fired a Kassam-class, short-range
missile toward Israel. The missile landed in the Gaza Strip near the Israeli
border fence. No injuries or damage were reported.
