Gaza Salafists expect pressure from unity government
Gaza’s Salafists do not expect any change from a unity Palestinian government, noting that Hamas will remain in control of security in the Gaza Strip and will keep up the pressure on their movements.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The date of Aug. 15, 2009, marked a dramatic development in the relationship between Hamas and Salafist groups in the Gaza Strip. The relationship between the two was ruined that day when security forces loyal to Hamas attacked the Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which was controlled at the time by the Salafist-jihadist Jund Ansar Allah Party, led by Sheikh Abdel-Latif Moussa. The attack killed him and dozens of his supporters holed up in the mosque.
The relationship has been marked by constant tension ever since.
Yet, with the signing of a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, and the start of consultations to form a national unity government headed by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, questions started being raised about the next government’s policy regarding Salafist movements.
In the Imam al-Albani Mosque in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Al-Monitor met with Abu Abdul Rahman Wadi, a senior leader of the local Salafist proselytizing movement. Wadi said that Hamas has repeatedly tried to attack the Salafist Call and its institutions in north Gaza, including the Imam al-Albani Mosque.
