Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Sunday slammed a report by an international human rights group which blamed Hamas for using excessive force against demonstrators in the Gaza Strip last week.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that seven Palestinians, affiliated with Fatah movement, were killed and 94 others wounded when Hamas forces used "excessive and indiscriminate" force to disperse participants at a rally to mark the third anniversary of late President Yasser Arafat's death.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said "there is a bad highlight and employment on what is happening in Gaza by adopting the testimony of one side without clarifying from the other side," adding that the report "lacked credibility."
However, he said that Hamas agreed with the HRW that an investigation committee should be formed to inspect the shootings. The HRW said that such inquiry commission should be "truly independent with respected, nonpartisan members."
The HRW also referred to Hamas' point of view in the report, quoting Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Hamas-run interior ministry, who accused Fatah gunmen of starting the shooting upon a plan prepared in advance.
Abu Zuhri, however, said that the report neglected "the crimes that the forces of President Mahmoud Abbas committed in the West Bank."
Hamas accuses the pro-Abbas security services of pursuing Hamas people in the West Bank for fear that Hamas takes the territory by force as what happened in Gaza in June.
Source: Xinhua
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