Commanders for Hamas and Al Qaida killed after mosque shootout
GAZA CITY Ñ The Hamas regime has lost a top commander in an ongoing war
with Al Qaida in the Gaza Strip.
On Aug. 15, Abu Jibril Shamali, head of Hamas security forces in the
southern Gaza Strip, was killed in a battle with an Al Qaida militia in the
southern Gaza town of Rafah. Shamali was said to have been a leading Hamas
commander and linked to the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit in 2006, Middle East Newsline reported.
Hamas officials said Abu Shamali entered a mosque in Rafah's Brazil
quarter to mediate an end to the takeover by the Army of Allah, or Jund
Ansar Al Allah. They said Shamali was shot dead upon entry by Army of Allah
commander Abu Latif Al Mussa. Al Mussa was later shot dead by Hamas forces.
Shamali was regarded as one of the most prominent of Hamas commanders,
responsible for the Executive Force as well as the military in the southern
Gaza Strip. Officials said Shamali, involved in numerous Hamas operations,
escaped four assassination attempts by Israel.
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Hamas said it has destroyed the Army of Allah. On Aug. 16, the Islamic
regime reported quiet in Rafah and said the town was deemed a closed
military zone.
But the Hamas operation has led to tension along the borders of Egypt
and Israel. On Aug. 17, an Israeli soldier fired toward an Egyptian soldier
along the southern border after the former cocked his weapon. No Israelis
were injured in the incident, which took place outside the Israeli port city
of Eilat.
Officials have blamed Fatah and the Palestinian Authority for the
emergence of the Al Qaida-aligned militias. They said the militias adopted
Al Qaida doctrine to avoid Hamas retaliation against Fatah in the Gaza
Strip.
"They [Army of Allah] said it is a war of heretics against heretics and
held suspicious ties with the security forces in Ramallah," Hamas Interior
Minister Fathi Hamad said.