On Friday night an explosion rocked Gaza’s Bianco Beach Resort, a luxury resort that opened a month ago. The powerful blast damaged the resort’s exterior wall, causing parts of it to collapse. This is reported by The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh.
Palestinian terrorists — allegedly with links to Islamic State-inspired groups — planted the bomb at Bianco Beach Resort after the venue refused to give in to demands to cancel a mixed-gender concert.
Mr Suhail al-Saqqa, the resort owner, stated that a person had arrived at the resort at approximately 19:30 on Wednesday, 4 August 2021. The person ‘identified himself and demanded the employees cancel a party scheduled for Thursday, 5 August. […]
‘It should be noted that a number of social media activists started an incitement campaign against the resort soon after the planned party was announced […].
‘The social media activists included the person who demanded the cancellation. The same person posted on social media after the explosion took place, stating that he did warn against holding the party.’
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warned that other parties might be targeted as well, causing ‘terror among innocent citizens’ and harming economic growth, eventually leading to the loss of job opportunities.
The Palestinian Association of Restaurants, Hotels and Tourism Services also condemned the bombing, calling it ‘immoral.’
Bianco Beach Resort consists of several villas with private swimming pools, hotel suites, a restaurant and more.
On July 24, 2021, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip called on Hamas and other armed groups to stop storing weapons in residential areas. The outcry followed a large explosion in Gaza City’s Al-Zawiya market that killed one person and injured 14 others. Palestinian Islamic Jihad explicitly accepted responsibility for what it called a ‘tragic event.’
Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash