This AP snippet raises a lot of questions about the credibility of Palestinian sources:
Abu Fouad said the group initially said the attackers were from the West Bank as a diversionary tactic. At the time, he said they didn’t know if the second attacker was still alive, so they wanted to confuse the Israelis.
Once they confirmed he was dead, they announced that they were from Gaza.
And credit the NY Times for following the bouncing ball in the face of further confusing contradictions:
Hamas did not initially claim any part in the bombing, but a spokesman for the movement, Sami Abu Zuhri, called it “heroic.” Late Monday, Reuters reported that the military wing of Hamas had also claimed responsibility. Adding to the confusion, an unidentified source from Hamas told Reuters that the bombers had entered Israel not from Gaza or Egypt, but from Hebron in the West Bank.
Spokesmen for the militia sent out contradictory messages about how the bombers had reached Dimona, a relatively remote working-class town in the Negev desert that is best known for its proximity to Israel’s nuclear reactor. The heavily guarded reactor lies about six miles outside the town.
At first, a Brigades spokesman said the two had taken advantage of the recent breach of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, crossing from Gaza into the Egyptian Sinai and from there into Israel south of Gaza, in the open desert. But in a later statement the Brigades denied that, possibly to avoid further friction between Gaza and Egypt, saying the men had entered directly from Gaza.
Palestinian sources: clear as mud.
