GAZA STRIP - Palestinian terrorists detonated a roadside bomb as a Red Cross convoy traveled toward the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The explosion, which occurred about a half mile from the crossing, blew out the windows of one of the four jeeps in the convoy, but none of the passengers were hurt, the Red Cross reported.

"The convoy was on its way to the Erez Crossing when an explosion took place on the side of the road," spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza Eyad Naser told Reuters.

"As a result of the powerful explosion, the windows of one jeep were smashed, but the cars continued to Erez and they have left Gaza," he said.

A spokesman for Hamas, the Palestinian faction ruling the Gaza Strip, tried suggesting that an unexploded Israeli shell was to blame, but local residents said they were sure it was a roadside bomb.

Another Hamas official, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said police had pursued a car seen fleeing the scene.

Sources: Reuters, The Associated Press