The Fatah movement, headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday rejected Hamas' accusations that the PA’s intelligence apparatus is behind the explosions in Gaza that killed three policemen on Tuesday night.

"These are allegations aimed at misleading the public and encouraging internal conflicts that Hamas is interested in," Fatah said.

The comments came after senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhum claimed that the explosions were carried out by the PA intelligence agency, headed by Majed Faraj, in a way that serves the Israel Security Agency and in attempt to cause chaos in Gaza.

Osama al-Qawasmeh, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and a spokesman for the organization, said that Tuesday night’s explosions in Gaza were "a result of the culture of hatred and the loss of the most fundamental Islamic, national and social values ​​under Hamas rule."

Qawasmeh advised Hamas to "do some self-examination on the rule of tyranny and injustice that the movement is implementing in the Gaza Strip and implement the reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo to bring about national unity."

Hamas has been ruling Gaza since 2007, when it overtook the coastal enclave from Fatah in a bloody coup.

Since then, the two groups have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry. The two organizations signed a reconciliation deal in October of 2017, under which the PA was to have resumed full control of Gaza by December of that year.

That deadline, however, was initially put back by 10 days, had later reportedly hit “obstacles”, and has never been implemented.