A blast near a funeral procession in the Gaza Strip on Friday killed four people and injured at least 30 other mourners, medical officials said. According to Reuters, police said the explosion may have been caused by a grenade dropped by a gunman who took part in the funeral march.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was not aware of any Israeli involvement in the incident.
Meanwhile, a senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government was abducted by unknown gunmen in the Strip on Friday, Fatah faction said. Fatah said Omar al-Ghoul, who advises Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, was taken from his home in Gaza one day after he arrived in the coastal territory from the occupied West Bank.
Ghoul has been living in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Fayyad's government is based, for the last three months.
Fayyad's information minister, Riyad al-Malki, blamed "criminals working for Hamas" for the abduction and called for Ghoul's immediate release. "Hamas and all of its parties are responsible for his life." Malki said the abduction was a message to Fatah leaders that "Gaza is closed to them".
Hamas denied any involvement and said its forces were investigating the incident. No group has claimed responsibility.
Ghoul is a well-known critic of Hamas.
