The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has successfully fought off the emergence of a militant group said to have been aligned with Al Qaeda. But, what we saw was only the tip of an iceberg and there will be more groups mushrooming and springing up in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hamas fighters moved in against the group, Jund Ansar Allah, last week after the organisation, led by Abdul Latif Musa, a former physician and Hamas member,declared the town of Rafah an Islamic emirateindependent of the Hamas government in Gaza Strip.
Israeli reports have been saying that Al Qaeda has been building itself in the Gaza Strip for some time now, and last week's incident was the first concrete proof to support that assertion.
The incident also established that there is no alliance between Al Qaeda and Hamas. It should have been expected to be so since there is a big ideological divide between the two groups. While Al Qaeda seeks to wage an all-plugs-pulled international "jihad" against the US-led West, Hamas is waging a struggle for Palestinian independence from Israel and has no interest in taking the conflict beyond the borders of Palestine.
Hamas leaders are also aware that any form of tie with Al Qaeda would be disastrous for its cause, since it would alienate itself from the international community.
Jund Ansar Allah - "Soldiers of God" - appears to have made the move to declare an emirate in Rafah mainly because it wanted to make its presence felt. Indeed, the result was disastrous for the group when Hamas forces challenged it. Overnight gunbattles left 22 dead, but Hamas was back in control of the town.
The dead included 10 Jund Ansar Allah members, including Musa, whose house was later blown up, six Hamas fighters and six bystanders.
Hamas leaders said Jund Ansar Allah was responsible for several kidnappings and "actions in defiance of Islamic teachings" - like destroying beauty parlours, Internet cafés and music shops - and trying to impose a Taliban-like strict Islamic code of conduct and dressing in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli reports quoting intelligence findings - whether doctored or otherwise - say that there are several Al Qaeda-linked groups in Gaza Strip. Their members are trained outside the strip after they sneak out of the besieged enclave through tunnels into Egypt's Sinai and return the same way to stage attacks, the reports say. Among them is a group which calls itself Jaljalat, or Doomsday, which allegedly staged an attack against belly dancing during wedding celebrations in the southern town of Khan Younis onJuly 23. More than 60 people were wounded in the grenade and shooting attack staged by three Jaljalat gunmen.
Hamas fighters fought back and cornered the three in an Al Qaeda "safe house". However, no further actions were taken and Hamas fighters drew back from the area because their leaders feared that if the three are killed or arrested, there will be bloody reprisals.
Hamas did not exercise the same self-restraint in the case of Jund Ansar Allah because the latter posed a public challenge to the Hamas rule of Gaza Strip, and it could not be allowed to get away with it.
Israel contends that Al Qaeda is a rising force in Gaza Strip, capable of attacks on the scale of those in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Israel has reported several foiled Al Qaeda cross-border attacks inside Israel, including a June 8 attempt to send in suicide bombers riding horses strapped with explosive packs. The horsemen were forced to retreat from the border by Israeli mortar fire, says a report.
Israel has only itself to blame if Al Qaeda has set up presence in Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade of the strip and the ensuing suffering of the people, with Hamas rendered unable to help its people, have created a high level of frustration and despair among Gazans. Many lost loved ones in the January-December Israeli military onslaught in Gaza Strip, and this made it easier for extremists to enlist them. After all, when people have nothing to lose, they do develop aburning desire for revenge and tend to adopt the first platform available.
In the case of Gaza, Al Qaeda is taking advantage of Hamas' inability to strike major blows against Israel. And if Al Qaeda is gaining strength to a position where it will be capable of launching attacks similar to those of the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, then again Israel is to be blamed, because it is the Israeli siege of Gaza Strip that has weakened Hamas.
If Israel, which witnessed Hamas in the late 1980s and early 1990s become a challenge to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, refuses to deal with Hamas today, it will find out, years from now, that so-called Al Qaeda groups will not allow even Hamas to deal with Israel.
These are the political prospects if no negotiated settlement to the Palestinian problem takes place. Israel would be better off grasping this now, and acting accordingly, since a belated realisation would be too late indeed.
By Musa Keilani
© Jordan Times 2009
