Hamas enters new phase of confrontation with Islamic State
Hamas in the Gaza Strip broadcast a video where two Islamic State members confessed to working for IS, which reveals a new phase in the relationship between the two groups.
On Jan. 25, Hamas’ internal security service in the Gaza Strip posted a video on its Facebook page of two alleged Islamic State (IS) members, titled, “IS surrounds Gaza from the south and Israel surrounds the rest.”
The video included confessions by two men, one of whom had his face blurred out and admitted to having joined IS in the Sinai Peninsula seven months earlier and was in charge of seizing weapons being smuggled into Gaza. The second confessed to sneaking into Sinai from Gaza in late 2016 and moving around in several areas before settling near the border with Gaza to prevent goods from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Prior to Hamas publishing the video, IS in Sinai broadcast on Jan. 4 a video threatening Hamas and executing an IS member for allegedly providing weapons to Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing. In the video, IS also called on its members to target the “infidel movement,” Hamas, by all means, including bombs and explosives.
Islam Shahwan, a professor of security sciences at Al-Awda University College in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “Hamas might have published these confessions for fear of being attacked by IS. It seems it [Hamas] wanted to prepare Palestinians about [Hamas] attacking [IS], which is inciting against Hamas. The movement could also be warning Palestinians against joining the ranks of IS.”
