Most of these groups appear to have peaked in activity around the late 2000s and early to mid 2010s, and several of them participated as well in the Sinai insurgency in Egypt (2011-2023). Today, they hold only a marginal presence in the Gaza Strip and have been described as being "held in a choke-hold" by Hamas.[2][4]
Besides several documented groups, there have been a number of smaller, loosely affiliated cells that adopt a variety of front names to perpetrate attacks.[1] Many terror attacks in Gaza, such as the 2007 killing of the Gazan Christian Rami Ayyad and the destruction of Crazy Water Park in 2010 were carried out by anonymous cells.
Shared ideological conflicts with Hamas
Islamist militant groups in the Gaza Strip, which are critical of Hamas, have several general points of unity:
Opposition to Hamas' tolerance of perceived liberal attitudes and culture among the Gazan population, including tolerance of music.[5]
Background
Salafism was first introduced into the Gaza Strip in the 1970s by Palestinian students who had returned from studying abroad at religious schools in Saudi Arabia.[2][6] The early movement was seen as helping Saudi efforts to propagate Wahhabism (which is often seen as a subset of Salafism[7][8]) and counter the Iranian Shia Islam of Ruhollah Khomeini.[2] According to journalist Jared Maslin, a number of Salafi groups in the Gaza Strip continue to receive support and funding from the Saudi government today.[6]
The first documented Salafi organization in the Gaza Strip was "Dar al-Kitab wa-al-Sunna" (House of the Book and Sunnah), established in 1975 by Sheikh Yasin al-Astal, which was non-violent and focused on preaching and education. During this time, Gazan Salafis distanced themselves from Palestinian politics and the struggle against Israel. Many Palestinians distrusted them, and as a result they were sometimes marginalized and isolated.[2]
The integration of jihadist ideology into Gazan Salafism began in the 2000s, and appears to have correlated with similar radicalization processes in the Sinai; the first reports on "violent Salafis" date to this period as well.[9][10] After a period of stagnation, a number of Salafi jihadist groups began to appear in 2005 as Israel prepared for its disengagement from the Gaza Strip.[2]
More groups formed around 2007 in reaction to Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip.[11]
The Army of Islam began to turn against Hamas in the months preceding the latter's takeover of Gaza, and organized the kidnapping of British journalist Alan Johnston in March 2007[15] with the likely intention of embarrassing Hamas.[1] After it seized power in June 2007, Hamas was able to secure Johnston's release,[16] and subsequently began to suppress the Army of Islam's activities, which nonetheless continued sporadically and included attacks on co-ed schools, local Christians, and a YMCA building.[1]
The group participated in the Sinai insurgency[22] alongside Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad and the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, and smuggled members into the Gaza Strip for training, later sending them back to the Sinai Peninsula to carry out attacks.[23] Army of Islam members linked to the August 2012 Sinai attack have reportedly sought refuge in the Gaza Strip.[17]
In a 2019 interview, the Army of Islam condemned Hamas as an "apostate" group.[12]
The group may have completely collapsed as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war (2023–present), on account of the Dogmush clan appearing to have been nearly wiped out by Israeli bombings,[24][25] and Hamas reportedly executing their leader for stealing humanitarian aid.[26]
Jaysh al-Ummah ("The Army of the Ummah") formed in June 2007 and took credit for firing three rockets into Israel that month. Unlike other groups, it has avoided claiming responsibility for internal attacks inside Gaza and instead has focused on attacks on Israel. In January 2008 they declared their intent to assassinate American president George W. Bush and stressed their alignment with Al-Qaeda. Abu Hafs al-Maqdisi, the group's leader, condemned Hamas for not implementing Sharia law, and would end up temporarily detained by Hamas himself. Since then, the two groups have had a mutual hostility but refrain from openly fighting.[1]
Jaysh al-Ummah nonetheless fought alongside Hamas in the 2012 Gaza conflict[27] and the 2014 Gaza War.[28][27] It claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Israel in 2019[29] and also claimed to have taken part in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, shooting rockets at Israeli targets.[30][31] During the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the group reported that it attacked IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.[32]
Swords of Truth, also known by their Arabic name Suyuf al-Haq (Arabic: سيوف الحق, romanized: Suyūf al-Ħaq, lit. 'The Swords of Truth' or "The Swords of Righteousness"),[35] is or was a "veteran" group primarily concentrated in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. It is supposedly led by former Hamas cleric Abu Suheib al-Maqdisi, who left Hamas to protest its decision to take part in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.[1]
Suyuf al-Haq has organized attacks against targets they deem immoral or un-Islamic, such as internet cafes, claiming they blew up more than 50 "morally corrupted" businesses in 2007.[36][37] The group has conducted an acid attack against a young woman dressed "provocatively", attacked a young man listening to music, and threatened Christians. In 2007, the group orchestrated the assassination of senior Palestinian intelligence officer Colonel Jed Tayya, whom it accused of being a Mossad agent.[1] In June 2007, they issued a threat towards Gazan female television broadcasters, warning that they would "cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation", demanding they cease wearing Western-style clothing and makeup. An unnamed Palestinian senior security official accused Hamas of funding the group, which Hamas denied.[38][39]
Jihadia Salafiya
Jihadia Salafiya is or was a group mainly known for its threats against Christians. Their leader, Abu Saqer, said in 2007 that Hamas "must work to impose an Islamic rule or it will lose the authority it has and the will of the people" and that Christians "must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza". The group demanded as well an end to Christian missionary activity in the Gaza Strip.[40][41]
Jihadia Salafiya was also suspected of attacking a United Nations school in the region which hosted a co-ed sporting event.[40]
Jund Ansar Allah ("The Army of God's Supporters") was a Rafah-based group that first surfaced in late 2008.[1] In 2009 the group attempted an attack on the formerly existing Karni border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel.[42][43] Jund Ansar Allah militants holed up in a building in Khan Yunis surrendered in a standoff with Hamas police in July 2009.[44] Hamas officials also blamed the group for the bombings of several internet cafes, and of a wedding party attended by relatives of the West Bank-based Fatah leader, Mohammed Dahlan, in which fifty people were injured. Jund Ansar Allah denied any responsibility for the latter attack, and Fatah leaders blamed Hamas.[45]
In August 2009, Jund Ansar Allah launched a revolt against Hamas, establishing the short-lived "Islamic Emirate of Rafah"; the rebellion was crushed by Hamas after a day of fighting, resulting in the group being virtually destroyed and its leaders killed.[1][46][47] Remnants of the group did however claim responsibility for rocket attacks against Israel in October 2009 and March 2010.[1]
Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin ("The Armies of Monotheism and Jihad in Palestine") emerged in 2008 and has been responsible for rocket attacks against Israel and attacks against Gazan Christians.[48] The group participated in the Sinai insurgency[49] alongside the Army of Islam and the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem. Notably, it kidnapped and murdered Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian peace activist who supported the Palestinian cause, in 2011. The group said that if their imprisoned leader Hesham al-Sa'eedni was not released by Hamas, they would execute Arrigoni. However, he was found dead well before the deadline; Hamas stormed the house where he was being held and successfully fought the abductors, but found him hanged.[50] The Los Angeles Times commented:
[T]he kidnapping raised questions about Hamas' control over Gaza, and it represents the latest example of how smaller, more radical groups in the territory—some with alleged ties to Al Qaeda—are challenging the rule of Hamas, which itself is viewed by Israel and the United States as a terrorist organization. Those groups complain that Hamas has become too moderate.[51]
Liwa al-Tawhid and Kataeb al-Tawhid
Kataeb al-Tawhid ("the Monotheism Brigades") is the militant wing of Liwa al-Tawhid.[52] They were a group that emerged in 2009. It claimed a cadre of several hundred fighters and an expertise in “RPG rockets, kalashnikovs, explosive devices, and mines, but we are trained in everything, including martyrdom.”[1] “Liwa al-Tawhid” is an extension of the “al-Tawhid and wal-Jihad Brigades” and “Jund Ansar Allah”.[52]
Jaljalat ("Thunder") is or was a "loosely-structured" group aligned with Al-Qaeda and composed largely of former Hamas personnel.[1][2] The group voiced its condemnation of Hamas and organized two bombing attacks against Hamas government buildings in August 2009 as revenge against the suppression of Jund Ansar Allah earlier that month.[53] In September 2009, Jaljalat revealed that it had attempted to assassinated former US president Jimmy Carter and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, but the plot had been foiled by Hamas.[53] Hamas captured the group's leader, Mahmoud Taleb, in October 2009.[54]
The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade surfaced in 2015 and is affiliated with the (so called) Islamic State.[55] The group was responsible for the Askhelon rocket attacks into Israel that year. Hamas raided the home of their leader Yunis Hunnar in June 2015; he was shot dead while resisting arrest.[56]
Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem
The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem was formed in 2011 or 2012 by Hisham Al-Saedni[57] and is linked to both Al-Qaeda[58] and the Islamic State.[59] It has carried out attacks against Israel[58] and participated in the Sinai insurgency[60] with the Army of Islam and Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. Hamas initiated a crackdown on the group in July 2013.[61]
The Free of the Homeland was a group which attacked and vandalized a children's summer camp run by the United Nations in May 2010. It accused the organization of promoting immorality in the Gaza Strip. Hamas condemned the attack.[64]
Masada al-Mujahideen was a group associated with Al-Qaeda[65] which was notable for its focus on starting forest fires with arson attacks. It clashed with Israel, Hamas, and even Jaysh al-Ummah in the early 2010s.[66][67][68][69] It claimed responsibility for more than a dozen forest fires inside Israeli territory between 2010 and 2013.[70] The group even went so far as to claim they were behind forest fires in the United States in 2012 and 2013, namely in the states of Arizona and Nevada, but their claims were disproven by American officials.[71][72][73][74]
^https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/salafi_jihadis/ "A small number of different Salafi-jihadi groups formed following Hamas’s seizure of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Some of these groups were formed by disgruntled Hamas members who had grown increasingly critical of what they saw as the group’s softening of positions towards Israel. Other groups were formed by clans as a way of gaining political legitimacy."
^ abIssacharoff, Avi (August 22, 2013). "Egypt's ire raised as Hamas harbors Sinai jihadists". The Times of Israel. Retrieved September 30, 2014. Their leader, Mohammed Dormosh, is well known for his ties to the Hamas leadership.
^"Army of Islam says Shalit now solely under control of Hamas". Haaretz. July 4, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2014. We at Army of Islam made the preparations for operation 'Dissipating Illusion,' which was carried out in cooperation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and the Popular Resistance Committees Salah a-Din. We kidnapped Gilad Shalit and handed him over to Hamas.
^"ISIS: We Are Operating in Gaza". Vocative: The extremist terror organization is establishing a toehold inside Gaza, despite Hamas' claims to the contrary. June 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
^Yashar, Ari (June 2, 2015). "Hamas Kills Local ISIS Leader in Gaza Shootout". ArutzSheva7: Round 1? Salafist leader killed after violently resisting arrest for 'illegal activities,' as ISIS threat looks likely to come to fruition. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
This article needs additional or more specific categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.(July 2024)
Strategi Solo vs Squad di Free Fire: Cara Menang Mudah!