<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Hamas execution of Al Qaida fighters in Gaza caught on tape

Hamas execution of Al Qaida fighters in Gaza caught on tape

Tuesday, August 25, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

TEL AVIV Ñ Hamas was said to have executed Al Qaida fighters during a clash in the Gaza Strip earlier this month.

Israeli television channels have broadcast video recordings that showed Hamas units executed Al Qaida-aligned fighters during the storming of a mosque in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Aug. 15. One television channel released a recording of Hamas military communications that ordered the killing of all fighters from the Jund Ansar Allah, commanded by Abdul Latif Mussa.

"If there is anybody alive, kill them," a Hamas commander was heard over the military radio.

During the 12-hour clash, at least 28 people, 20 of them Jund members, were killed and more than 130 others were injured at the mosque. On Aug. 24, the Israeli television channels broadcast a video taken by a cellular phone that showed black-clad Hamas forces shooting Jund captives at close range from several directions.

The camera, taken from a nearby roof, showed Jund fighters, trapped in the mosque courtyard. Hamas soldiers in a building overlooking the courtyard shot dead each of the Jund fighters.

The video, broadcast by Israel's Channel 2 and Channel 10, was the first that provided an up-close view of the Hamas military operation that decimated Jund. In the video, said to have been provided by the opposition Fatah movement, Hamas soldiers and security forces shoot Jund captives dead against a wall.

The executions were said to have been ordered by the Hamas military command. Channel 10 aired a recording of Hamas military radio communications that ordered the execution of all Jund fighters.

"Tell me quickly what's happening," a Hamas commander is heard asking an officer in the mosque.

"Everything's okay, the situation is under control," a field officer replied. "The injured have arrived at the hospital. Our fellows are taken them out to be killed, right?"

"Good. Good, I know about this," the commander said. "If there's anybody alive, kill them."

"Over," the officer replied.

An estimated 2,000 Hamas soldiers and police were said to have secured the southern Gaza Strip and prepared for the attack on the mosque. Palestinian sources said the Hamas operation was led by the Izzedin Kassam military wing.

Hamas has not responded to the report. The Islamic regime banned video from the battle at the Rafah mosque.

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