Hamas, Gaza's Armed Factions Struggle To Stay Out of Sinai Conflict
Hamas and the main armed factions in Gaza are holding regular meetings to avoid being dragged into conflict in the Sinai.
No one yet knows what effect the Aug. 9 airstrike on Rafah will have on the jihadist militants in Sinai. Thus far, responsibility for the attack has been variously attributed to either or both the Egyptian and Israeli militaries amid indications of possible high-level cooperation between them in its execution.
Another development, no less important, is that the bombardment has sent ripples throughout the Gaza Strip, where militant groups have been anxiously contemplating the possibility that future strikes might target Gaza. This would likely take place under the pretext that Gazan militant groups have been complicit in events in the Sinai, despite repeated denials, especially from Hamas, whose spokesman Sami Abu Zahri condemned Aug. 12 statements by Maj. Gen. Ahmed Wasfi, the second field commander of the Egyptian army, alleging as such.
Anxieties in Gaza regarding the strike in the Sinai have been aggravated by Israeli media reports that the attack had targeted fighters from “global jihad” groups in Gaza. According to leaks, the militants had prepared a platform for launching rockets into Israel to try to torpedo the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that the United States is attempting to kick start.
Another rumor has it that Hamas has dispatched operatives through the tunnel network on the Egyptian border to execute an operation firing rockets into Israel. The attack would be staged from the Sinai due the constraints on Gaza due to the Egyptian and Israeli blockades, which have grown more severe with the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, one of Hamas' most important supporters.
