Bomb hits Hamas patrol in Gaza City, 3 hurt

GAZA, Oct 4 (Reuters) A bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying members of a Hamas security force in the Gaza Strip early today, injuring at least three people, Hamas officials and medical workers said.

Hamas officials said the Gaza City blast appeared to have been caused by a roadside bomb aimed at a Hamas patrol. The three injured were members of Hamas's Executive Force.

Later today, Israel carried out an air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, an army spokesman said.

The missile missed its target, a car carrying gunmen, but injured three civilians nearby, the Islamic Jihad militant group and medical officials said.

The early morning roadside bombing that injured three Hamas men could stoke tensions between the Islamist group and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction nearly four months after Hamas seized Gaza by force.

Yesterday, Hamas ordered the temporary closure of the main Fatah headquarters in the Gaza Strip, citing security reasons.

Hamas said the headquarters was located near where a car exploded on Tuesday night, killing three Fatah members. A Hamas security official accused the Fatah members of trying to plant a bomb near a Hamas security post when their vehicle exploded.

REUTERS JK KP1953