Hamas security forces have uncovered a rocket workshop run by a pro-Islamic State organization in Gaza, according to a jihadist in the coastal enclave.
Although one cannot take the word of any jihadist or Hamas in particular at face value, Islamic State-supporting jihadists are said to have been operating in Gaza for some time. The Middle East Monitor reported back in July 2015 that pro-Islamic State “Salafist groups active in the Gaza Strip have been suspected of carrying out the series of attacks” on Hamas, Islamic Jihad and “foreign owned offices.” The Jerusalem Post also reported that a Gaza-based jihadi group that supports the Islamic State has been “encouraging people to donate by citing verses from the Koran praising those who contribute financially to jihad.”
Salafists include a number of ultraconservative Islamic groups that seek to turn Gaza into an Islamic caliphate. These groups have created a headache for Hamas in recent years, accusing it of being too soft on Israel and of failing to adequately impose religious law.
Jihadists routinely kill each other, today and throughout Islamic history, in battles for jurisdictional dominance — contrary to the preposterous and baseless notion that Western provocation of Muslims (and colonialist sins) rouses them to jihad.
“EXCLUSIVE – Jihadist: Hamas Uncovered Islamic State Rocket Workshop in Gaza”, by Aaron Klein and Ali Waked, Breitbart, March 19, 2017:
TEL AVIV – Hamas security forces have uncovered a rocket workshop run by a pro-Islamic State organization in Gaza, according to a jihadist in the coastal enclave.
Abu Baker Almaqdesi, a top Palestinian jihadi who previously fought for IS in Syria and Iraq and returned to his native Gaza following an injury, said that hundreds of rockets and explosive belts have been seized by Hamas in a recent raid.
Last month, Hamas unveiled a jihadi arsenal containing some 250 rockets and hundreds of AK-47 rifles.
“The range of some of these rockets is 140 kilometers,” Almaqdesi claimed without providing any evidence. He further stated that similar rockets have already been shipped to Waliyat Sinai, IS’s Egyptian affiliate.
A Hamas Interior Ministry official declined to confirm or deny the report about the rocket workshop, but confirmed that electronic devices allegedly utilized to connect between Sinai-based jihadists and their Gaza counterparts have been seized.
On Saturday, two rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, prompting the Israel Defense Forces to retaliate against Hamas positions.
Meanwhile, the pro-IS Aamaq news agency reported that Israeli drones raided the organization’s strongholds in Sinai….