Palestinian Circles: ’ISIL’ Threats Part of Aggressive Campaigns against Gaza Occupied Palestine

Local Editor

The struggle between Takfiri groups loyal to ‘ISIL', and ‘Hamas', has resurfaced following the broadcast of a video by ‘ISIL' in which it threatened the Hamas movement of bringing an end to its control over the Gaza Strip. In the video, they said that: "We will uproot the "Jewish state", and we will implement Sharia law in Gaza instead of your [laws]" i.e. ‘Hamas'.

Although the [Hamas] movement played down the importance of these threats and saw them as part of aggressive campaigns on Gaza, Zionist circles sought to employ these developments by stirring incitement against the Strip. In this context, ‘Haaretz' daily quoted security sources in ‘Tel Aviv': "Members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades have a close relationship with members of the ‘Sinai Province' organisation, which claimed responsibility for the bloody attacks in the Egyptian Sheikh Zuid area."

Similarly, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahhar played down the remarks of the former head of the ""Israeli" National Security Council", Giora Eiland, who said that "There is real fear of the possibility of ‘ISIL' taking control over Gaza."

Al-Zahhar said that " ‘ISIL's' phenomenon is small and limited to a group of individuals who continuously change and move in-between factions, and are treated according to due process in the event of wrongdoing."

On his part, Palestinian scholar Alaa Abu Amer told Al-Ahed news that with regards "to the video; it is clear that there are elements from the Gaza Strip who joined ‘ISIL', some of whom received certain responsibilities in Aleppo, Syria, and there is information that the Emir of the organisation in Aleppo is from the Gaza Strip...and other information indicates a presence of Palestinian elements in the Sinai Peninsula, belonging to groups formerly part of Hamas, and this is what makes the threat more serious."

In response to a question by ‘Al-Ahed' regarding the ability of ‘ISIL' to carry out its threats in Gaza, Abu Amer said that "the threat against the authority of Hamas depends on the situation in the Strip, and the situation today, due to the insistence of the movement to govern alone, and in light of the financial crisis facing Hamas, not to mention the deterioration of economic conditions in general, is such that it is easy for ‘ISIL' to attract military members belonging to Hamas, and to exploit the needs of young Palestinians due to unemployment."

He also warned that the organisation and those who adopt its extremist ideas may resort to sabotaging the situation in Gaza by implementing a series of bombings, assassinations, or the launching of missiles on ["Israeli"] settlements, in order to trigger a Zionist response that contributes to instability and insecurity.

Source: Al-Ahed News, Translated and edited by webiste team