Battle of Rafah (2009)

Battle of Rafah (2009)
Part of the Salafi jihadist insurgency in the Gaza Strip

Location of Rafah in the Gaza Strip
Date14–15 August 2009
(1 day)
Location
Rafah Governorate, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Result Hamas government victory
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
Islamic State Islamic Emirate of Rafah Hamas
Commanders and leaders
Islamic State Abdel Latif Moussa †
Islamic State Abu Abdullah al-Suri †		 Khaled Mashal
Ismail Haniyeh
 Abu Jibril Shimali †
Units involved
Islamic State Jund Ansar Allah
Strength
Islamic State 100+ militants Hamas Unknown
Casualties and losses
Islamic State 15 militants killed
Islamic State 40 militants arrested		 6 police officers killed[1]
State of Palestine 5 Palestinian civilians killed
State of Palestine 150 Palestinian civilians wounded[citation needed]

The Battle of Rafah (2009) took place between Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah in the Rafah Governorate of the Gaza Strip.[2] Fighting between the two Palestinian militant organizations broke out on 14 August 2009, when Jund Ansar Allah's founder Abdel Latif Moussa denounced the Hamas government for supposedly failing to enforce Islamic law and for "not being any different from a secular government" since it ousted Fatah during the Battle of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. He subsequently proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Rafah and swore allegiance to al-Qaeda. In total, 26 people were killed and 150 were wounded during the conflict, including an 11-year-old Palestinian girl.[3] Moussa was killed in Rafah on 15 August 2009, triggering the collapse of Jund Ansar Allah and the Islamic Emirate of Rafah.

Events

A day before the Hamas raid, Jund Ansar Allah leader, Abdel Latif Moussa, declared the Islamic Emirate of Rafah, and swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda. About 100 of his fighters were seen in a video where he pledged allegiance in his base, a mosque in Rafah.[citation needed] The next day, the Qassam Brigades attacked the mosque and other bases of the group in Rafah. The fighting lasted 7 hours. It was reported that when Hamas reached the positions of Moussa and Jund Ansar Allah's military commander, Abu Abdullah al Suri, they detonated themselves.[ambiguous] About 15 Jund Ansar Allah fighters were killed, 40 were captured, 5 civilians were killed. Al-Qassam brigades commander Abu Jibril Shimali, was also killed during the battle. The group was virtually destroyed after the fighting, having both of its leaders killed, and its bases captured. It was reported that Hamas later released some of the captured.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Islamist leader dies in Gaza battle". Al Jazeera.
  2. ^ Islamist Leader Said to Be Killed in Shootout. The New York Times. 15 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Hamas: Leader of al-Qaeda-inspired group committed suicide". Ynetnews. Associated Press. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Profile: Jund Ansar Allah". 15 August 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Hamas and al Qaeda-linked group clash in Gaza | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. ^ "FACTBOX: Five facts about Jund Ansar Allah". Reuters. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Al Qaeda-linked group declares Islamic state in Gaza – The Long War Journal". longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  8. ^ Marshall, Warren (30 November 2010). "Al-Qaeda in Gaza: Isolating "the Base"". Contemporary Voices: St Andrews Journal of International Relations. 1 (1). doi:10.15664/jtr.167 (inactive 1 November 2024). hdl:10023/5610. ISSN 2516-3159.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  9. ^ "All 24 victims of Friday". Ma'an News Agency. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  10. ^ Beaumont, Peter (15 August 2009). "Hamas destroys al-Qaida group in violent Gaza battle". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 February 2019.