Hamas was believed to have retaliated against Egypt. On May 12, a bomb
was found and defused outside the Egyptian embassy in Gaza City in what was
termed an unprecedented incident.
Palestinian sources said the bomb marked a Hamas warning to Egypt. They
said Hamas has been threatened by Egypt's siege of the Gaza Strip and its
seizure of weapons and money sent to Hamas.
"Hamas believes that it must change this situation immediately," a
Palestinian source familiar with the Hamas regime said.
For its part, Egypt has intensified efforts against weapons and other
smuggling to the Gaza Strip. On May 12, an Egyptian Navy vessel rammed into
a Gaza fishing boat, which then capsized. Egypt has assessed that
Palestinian fishing boats marked a major element in the smuggling industry
in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas Interior Ministry said the Egyptian Navy captured five
Palestinians on the fishing boat and beat them with clubs and pipes. The
ministry said one of the fishermen died from the beating.
"The Egyptian corvette moved very rapidly toward the Palestinian boat,
brutally capsized it, and hit Mohammed repeatedly till he died," the son of
the dead Palestinian, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Bardawil, said. "The Egyptian Navy
left the body in sea."