Palestinian police chief in the Gaza Strip escaped early Thursday an assassination attempt as unknown Palestinian detonated a homemade bomb at the entrance to his house in Gaza City, security sources said.

Brig. General Ghazi el Jabali told reporters after the huge blast was heard that "unknown individuals placed a bomb near the door of my house where I am living with my wife and children."

"Someone is sending me a message," he said, "I thank God that the bomb exploded just five minutes before I left my house, but no one was injured."

He refused to accuse anybody of standing behind the blast, saying "this explosion will not scare me. I will continue my job asthe commander of the Palestinian civil police and impose discipline and law."

Witnesses said initiative investigation had found a 100-meter long electric wire on the ground which ended up with batteries, apparently someone detonated the bomb by pressing on a button.

The neighbors said the explosion could have caused a disaster ifit had been detonated earlier in the evening as more residents werein the building.

Source: Xinhua