Gaza’s Hamas prime minister was adamant: There is no al-Qaeda presence in Gaza, he said, rebuffing what he portrayed as Israeli allegations meant to justify military action against the territory.
At the same time, a new homegrown crop of zealots — even if only inspired by the global terror network — is increasingly turning into a problem for Gaza’s ruling Islamic militants.
Dismissing Hamas as too tame, Muslim firebrands have challenged the Gaza government’s informal truce with Israel — in place since Israel’s bruising offensive against Gaza two years ago — by sporadically firing rockets at Israeli border communities. Israel says they also planned to try to cross into neighboring Egypt to use it as a springboard for attacks against Israelis and foreigners.
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, speaking at a rare news conference for foreign reporters on Wednesday, suggested that claims of an al-Qaeda foothold were part of an Israeli attempt to further discredit the group already shunned by much of the world and to perhaps justify action against Gaza in the framework of the global war against terror.
“There is no such thing as al-Qaeda in Gaza,” Haniyeh said.
“The Palestinian resistance does not work outside the borders of Palestine,” he said.
Hamas remains firmly in control of Gaza, the territory it seized in a violent takeover in 2007. Its radical challengers, known as Jihadi Salafis, are estimated to number only a few hundred armed men in several small groups, according to experts.
These groups preach global jihad and adhere to a form of Islam even more conservative than that of Hamas. While al-Qaeda’s battle is against the West at large, Hamas says its sole target is Israel.
In recent months, Islamic radicals have targeted cyber cafes as dens of vice, attacked Christian institutions and kidnapped several foreign journalists, often without Hamas’ blessing. A Gaza mosque shootout between Hamas forces and Salafis in August last year left 26 dead.
There is also cooperation. The Army of Islam — one of the main al-Qaeda-inspired groups — had a hand, along with Hamas, in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in 2006.
The Salafis, who castigate Hamas for failing to impose Islamic law and for suspending attacks on Israel, are a potential magnet for Gazans dissatisfied with their rulers. And Hamas could find itself the target of crushing retaliation if Salafis ever manage to carry out a major attack.
Israel says the threat is very real. Egyptian officials said early last month that they had arrested 25 sympathizers of the Army of Islam.
Last month, Israel killed three members of the Army of Islam in separate airstrikes, alleging at the time that the men planned to attack Israeli and US targets in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
A senior Israeli military official said this week that several Gaza gunmen from that cell were still hiding in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, which borders Gaza. He said it wasn’t clear whether the cell planned to kidnap Israeli tourists in the Sinai or use Egypt as a gateway to infiltrate Israel to carry out attacks there.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with briefing regulations, also alleged that hundreds of militants, mainly from Yemen and including some trained by al-Qaeda, have sneaked into Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. He said Gaza militants have also received military training in Sudan and Yemen.
Israeli government officials declined to comment on these issues, deferring to the military.
Earlier this year, a study by the US-based Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Gaza’s Salafis are inspired by, but not formally affiliated with, al-Qaeda.
Commentators on Web sites affiliated with al-Qaeda have urged Hamas and the Gaza Salafis to set aside their differences. An article on one of the sites said the leaders of al-Qaeda are not interested in these groups because they are small, divided and scattered.
Hamas has traditionally focused on its conflict with Israel. Pledged to Israel’s destruction, it has carried out scores of suicide bombings and other attacks over the years, killing hundreds.
However, the Islamists have rejected the idea of global jihad. Moreover, in recent years, some in Hamas, including its supreme leader, Syrian-based Khaled Mashaal, have softened their rhetoric and said they would not object to a Palestinian state alongside Israel after years of total rejection.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was