Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — Iran has made its proxy, Islamic Jihad, the address for
Palestinian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources said Iran has relayed tens of millions of dollars to
Jihad over the last year in an effort to expand its appeal in the Gaza
Strip.

The sources said Jihad, a militia for more than 30 years, was now overseeing a range of social programs that could rival the Hamas regime.

“Jihad is playing it very safe and doing everything it can not to challenge Hamas,” a source said. “But the fact is that Jihad has the money and Hamas doesn’t.”

Iranian aid to Jihad was said to have peaked in 2013. The sources said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facilitated unprecedented long-range rocket delivery and production to Jihad that exceeded that of
Hamas while providing thousands of Gazans with food and other services.

In the latest effort, Jihad was assigned the distribution of $2 million
worth of food provided by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, linked to
IRGC. The sources said Jihad distributed 40,000 packages while allocating
3,000 to Hamas. The packages consist of such staples as oil, sugar and
pasta.

The sources said Jihad’s rise marked a decision by Iran to punish Hamas
for its support of the Sunni revolt in Syria. They said Jihad, in contrast
to Hamas, cooperated with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad during
the more than two years of civil war.

“Right now, the situation in Gaza is that Jihad is seen as the new
provider while Hamas struggles on both the economic and political fronts,”
the source said.

  Gaza: Now Iran proxy Islamic Jihad ‘has the money and Hamas doesn’t’, Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, In Gaza, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps