The attack marked the resumption of the Salafist insurgency
against the Hamas regime. The Al Qaida-aligned opposition sharply reduced
operations after a Hamas assault on an Al Qaida-aligned mosque in Rafah in
August 2009, in which 26 people were killed.
"What will come next will be harder and more horrible," the Soldiers of
the Monotheism Brigades said.
The sources said at least five Al Qaida-aligned militias — with such
names as Army of Allah, Army of Islam and Rolling Thunder — have been
operating in the Gaza Strip since 2007. They said membership estimates range
from 5,000 to 10,000, many of them believed to be former Hamas fighters.
The Hamas regime has acknowledged the Salafist opposition. But senior
officials said most of the militias were destroyed or driven underground,
with only symbolic operations taking place.
"There is no such thing as Al Qaida in Gaza," Hamas Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh told a briefing on Dec. 1.
The sources said the Al Qaida-aligned militias have been helped in
operations by Hamas defectors. They said the militias have been bolstered by
an infusion of funds from Gulf Cooperation Council and other Sunni states
dismayed by Hamas's alliance with Iran.
The militias have also accumulated missile and rocket arsenals, the
sources said. They said Salafist gunners have repeatedly violated the
unofficial Hamas ceasefire with Israel, instituted in 2009, and were
expanding operations in neighboring Egypt.
In November, Egypt was said to have arrested 25 operatives of Army
of Islam. Israel and Egypt have agreed that Army of Islam, commanded by
former Fatah security officer Mumtaz Dughmoush, was participating in the firing of
rockets from the Sinai Peninsula toward Israel.
The sources said the Al Qaida-aligned militias have been bolstered by
trained operatives from Sudan and Yemen. They said hundreds of Yemeni and
other Arab nationals have infiltrated the Gaza Strip and were conducting
training for Salafist groups.
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