"[3] Mohammed Al-Araj, a former economics minister for the Hamas de facto government in the Gaza Strip, was one of the owners of the park.

[2] According to The Jerusalem Post, Crazy Water Park was one of a number of seaside tourist resorts constructed in a $20 million building binge.

[11] In August 2010, Hamas authorities closed the water park for three days as a "warning" to the management against allowing men and women to mingle at parties.

[13] Ala al-Araj, one of the owners and a former Hamas government minister, said that at about 3 AM, the men tied up the guards, blindfolded them and beat them.

[1][7][14][13] The identity of the arsonists was not immediately known, but al-Araj noted that "all tourism projects in Gaza are threatened by extremists who reject them" and held the Hamas administration responsible because it had closed the resort.

Since seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a violent conflict with rival Palestinian group Fatah, Hamas had been closing down restaurants, coffee shops and hotels in the territory, claiming these places violate Islamic tradition.

[13] During the same period, other extreme Islamist groups carried out numerous attacks on establishments perceived as un-Islamic, including coffee shops, beauty salons and even UN-run summer camps.