Al-Jazeera: people's resistance assassinated Moussa Arafat

Al-Jazeera satellite TV reported that a spokesman for al-Naser Salah Eddine contingents, the military wing of the people's resistance committees, announced responsibility for the assassination of Lt. Gen. Moussa Arafat, the military advisor for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and former chairman of the Palestinian military intelligence department.

These committees are, for the most part, composed of members of the Fatah movement but they are working in isolation from its leadership in addition to few members from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements who split also from their organization.

Al-Jazeera also said that efforts are being made to release Manhal, the son of Moussa Arafat, who was kidnapped by the gunmen in the same operation.

In this respect, the director of the military intelligence in Nablus, Lt. Gen. Maher Fares, accused the Palestinian minister of interior, Lt. Gen. Maser Youssef, of being weak in carrying out set duties towards what had taken place. Fares said that the people's resistance committees do not have the capabilities to carry out such a big operation, as he alleged, noting the possibility that the executing sides got facilities from security sides, he did not disclose.

On the other hand, the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) condemned the assassination operation, rejecting embarking on assassination as means to settle political differences and stressed that its weapons are only directed at the Israeli occupation.

The spokesman for the movement in Gaza, Sami Abu Zahri, said in a statement to al-Jazeera that "despite the fact that Moussa Arafat was among those who hurt our people and contributed to torturing and depressing operations against them, however, we reject resort to violence to settle violence."