PALESTINIAN Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah escaped unharmed yesterday when an explosion struck his convoy during a visit to Gaza.

Three vehicles in his convoy had their windows blown out, as Mr Hamdallah arrived to inaugurate a long-delayed sewage plant project after the World Bank, European Union and European governments paid nearly £53.7 million in funding.

The project’s opening was delayed for four years by the Hamas election victory in 2006, the ensuing Israeli-Egyptian blockade, power shortages and conflicts.