Tayib Abdul Rahim, PA cabinet secretary and head of the investigating committee, was also widely reported as being involved in the interrogation of another Addassi brother, Issam (far right in picture). During Issam's second detention, Abdul Rahim allegedly hit him over the head with a chair, and forced him to sign a declaration saying he wouldn't talk to the press.

At a meeting to discuss the Shareef case between Birzeit student bloc leaders and Haj Ismail Al-Jabr, commander of PA National Security forces in the West Bank, Jabr dismissed the accusation by saying, "It was actually because of me this story started. I stood up, my gun knocked the chair over, and what do you know - now he's saying Abdul Rahim hit him!"

Issam himself says that although Tayib Abdul Rahim was in the room, it was Al-Jabr who was sitting in front of him and who assaulted him. "Jabr shouted at me, 'Speak the truth!'," he said, "and then hit me over the head with a chair!"

Ghassan and Issam's father, Abdul Salaam, himself arrested and released, described the arrests and the charges made by Jibril Rajoub and the Preventative Security Service (PSS) against Ghassan as a "theatrical performance".

Ultimately, the 'Hamas feud' theory on which the story and arrests have been based, together with multiple allegations of torture from different sources, suggest that the PA's quest to satisfy Netanyahu's demanded PA denials of Israeli involvement and desire to deflect Hamas accusations of PA involvement, have resulted in widespread suspicion of PA involvement in Shareef's death.

Naturally, Israel has to be involved somewhere. After the identification, when it was also announced that the autopsy showed Shareef had been shot dead before the explosion, Hamas and a variety of senior PA officials began to accuse Israel of assassinating Shareef. Hamas announced that it held the Palestinian Authority at least partially responsible, if only for not providing protection to a Palestinian in PA territories. Despite this and subsequent less-guarded accusations, Hamas undertook to seek its revenge only from Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide. Israel, meanwhile, continued to categorically and repeatedly deny any involvement whatsoever.

As the accusations against Israel reached a peak Netanyahu (right) - extremely concerned at both Hamas threats to take suicide attacks to "surprising" and "unimaginable" levels and PA "incitement" around the time of the visit by US Middle East Peace Coordinator Dennis Ross, the approaching Fifty Years of Israel celebrations, and the upcoming Jewish Passover holiday - appeared to hint that the PA had a role in the affair. Why other Israeli officials did not join in can be explained by the 'loop theory', if Israel also had a part to play in all of this.

When an Israeli security agency believes it necessary to carry out a political assassination, it is required to ensure that such a decision is approved by the Israeli prime minister. This has applied even when the actual assassin is not Israeli but a foreign national, for example, a Palestinian collaborator. This much is known from articles and books published about the Mossad, Israeli's external security agency.

Most assassinations have taken place outside the borders of Israel. In the different case of a killing on Palestinian autonomous territory, such as that of Hani Abed, Mahmoud Khawaja, Kamal Kaheel, and Yahya Ayesh, it is therefore deduced that the same loop would apply to the agency responsible, the internal Shin Bet. This is important as it became an important key to understanding the public statements from the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister.

On 3 April, Israeli daily Ha'aretz quoted Netanyahu as saying to the PA, "They know the truth. They are well aware that we are not involved." This drew attention to a strangely worded earlier statement, "Israel did not have an active part and did not operate in this affair"

If allegations of PA involvement are correct, the PA then appeared as if it understood the veiled threat and quickly cleared Israel of involvement two days later. The 'Hamas feud' then became the official line from Netanyahu's office although the Department of Communications and Policy Planning head in Netanyahu's office, David Bar-Illan (left), former executive editor of the polemic and rather crude Jerusalem Post, couldn't resist digging in the knife one last time on 7 April via the same publication:

"Pointing an accusing finger at us without actually investigating the matter and in spite of our denials," he said, "as well as the knowledge that it wasn't our doing, reflects irresponsibility and a desire to foment trouble."

So, Netanyahu, who initially fervently subscribed to 'no one is guilty' "work accident" theory, then suddenly threatened the PA with 'revelations' about its role, finally concluded with the comparatively lame, " It appears that this event was an outgrowth of an internal struggle within Hamas."

These statements and the fact that no Israeli spokespersons other than Netanyahu and Bar-Illan made the thinly-veiled threat to 'reveal' PA involvement, strongly hint at the validity of the 'loop theory', whose underlying premise is that the PA executed Shareef at the request of Israel. Of course, all of this could simply be an Israeli attempt to sow seeds of national disunity among the two main factions - nationalist and Islamic - in Palestinian society. If this is the case, it has succeeded beyond expectations.