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Hamas, Salafists try to move beyond bumpy history

Serious efforts are being made toward a reconciliation between Hamas and the Salafists.
Palestinian Salafists wave flags during a protest against satirical French weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo's cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, outside the French Cultural Centre in Gaza city January 19, 2015. Dozens of Jihadist Salafi men rallied in Gaza on Monday to condemn continued publication by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo of cartoons deemed offensive to Islam's Prophet. Charlie Hebdo published a picture of Mohammad weeping on its cover last week after gunmen stormed its offices in Paris, kill
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A reconciliation initiative between Hamas and the Salafists was announced July 7 by Sheikh Issam Saleh, a prominent Salafist figure in the Gaza Strip, during a press conference he held in Al-Joundi al-Majhoul Square in Gaza City.

Al-Monitor attended the press conference and took note of the initiative’s provisions: halt and condemn local bombings in Gaza, some of which have not yet been claimed responsibility for; forbid torture in the prisons run by the Gaza security apparatus, except when the detained is accused of collaborating with Israel; refrain from attacking the homes of Salafists; release of Salafist detainees; and return money and weapons to the Salafists.

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