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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Al Qaida network loses 30 but survives assault
on mosque by Hamas

TEL AVIV — The Al Qaida-aligned network appears to have survived the offensive by the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, a report said.   

A report by the Institute for National Security Studies said the Hamas assault on an Al Qaida-aligned mosque in the southern Gaza town of Rafah has not eliminated the Al Qaida network. INSS said Al Qaida cells, known as Salafists, would resume recruitment in their campaign to destabilize the Hamas regime.

"It is clear that the jihadists will take advantage of the event to enlist support for their path and stress what distinguishes them from Hamas," author Yoram Schweitzer, a consultant to the Israeli government and military, said.

On Aug. 15, at least 30 people were said to have been killed in the Hamas attack on the Ibn Tamiya mosque in Rafah. About two-thirds of the casualties were identified as members of the Jund Ansar Allah, an Al Qaida-aligned group led by Abdul Latif Mussa, who was also killed in the attack.


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The report, titled "The Battle at the Rafah Mosque: Power Struggles and Philosophical Clashes," asserted that Hamas planned to destroy Jund. Schweitzer cited Mussa's announcement of an Islamic entity in Rafah separate from that of the Hamas regime.

"Seen by Hamas as a major challenge to the legitimacy of its rule, the organization felt it had no choice but to respond by the violent suppression of the rebel faction," the report said.

Hamas has not tolerated any attempt to undermine its rule of the Gaza Strip, the report said. Schweitzer cited repeated crackdowns on the deposed Fatah movement as well as Al Qaida-aligned groups such as Army of Islam, dominated by the Fatah-aligned Dughmush clan.

The report identified several of the Al Qaida groups as Army of Islam, Army of the Nation, Army of Believers-Al Qaida in Palestine and Tahrir. Hamas said some of these groups were financed by the Palestinian Authority.

"The full extent of the phenomenon and the precise number of active members in the different groups are not known, but estimates are that there are several dozen activists and some hundreds of fans and supporters for each of the large groups, and somewhat fewer for the smaller groups," the report said. "The intention of the groups to generate terrorism at all costs ensures that the potential for damage is disproportionately large given their actual size."

The report said the Al Qaida network would renew efforts to undermine the Hamas regime. Schweitzer envisioned attacks on Hamas as well as neighboring Israel in an effort to torpedo the current lull in fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

"Despite the efforts Hamas leaders invested after the incident to restore calm and arrive at understandings with the leaders of these groups about preventing bloodshed and acts of vengeance, it seems that at best these efforts may succeed in postponing the next round of confrontations between them," the report said. "However, it will not stop these groups from continuing to recruit young people and from trying to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel as a provocation that would force Israel to respond against Hamas and thus challenge the organization’s policy of tahadiya."



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