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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/500108.html
Dahlan Was the Target in Gaza U.S. Convoy Attack
(Ha'aretz)Danny Rubinstein - On October 15, 2003, three Americans guarding diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Israel, who went to Gaza to offer aid to Palestinians, were killed in a terrorist attack. The road where the attack took place is not used by the IDF. The people who set off the explosive charge knew exactly whom they were attacking. The Americans demanded a thorough investigation of the incident by the PA that would lead to a trial in which the guilty parties would be brought to justice. Yasser Arafat gave instructions to stop the investigation. Ranking PA officials believe the attack was aimed at Americans by people who intended to devalue the status of Mohammed Dahlan, the man considered to be closest to the Americans in the Gaza Strip. The Preventive Security Service, which Dahlan created and also led, received widespread assistance from the U.S., and Dahlan has maintained contact with American government agencies. The identity of the parties that would like to hurt Dahlan in the Gaza Strip is fairly well known: the commanders of the other PA-affiliated defense forces, mainly General Mussa Arafat and General Ghazi Jabali, the former police commander. In the past year, the heads of these forces have fought an all-out war with Dahlan that has included shootings, murders, kidnappings, and the occupation of military headquarters and offices. The attack on the American convoy, then, was part of the violent struggle between the various organizations in Gaza.