Twilight zone? Hamas vs. ISIS in Gaza

In a major escalation, Islamist Salafists on Monday planted a bomb on Hamas’s security headquarters in Gaza City, damaging a peripheral wall of the central structure.

 

Hours earlier, Gazan Salafists posted an online message threatening to “act against chosen targets” if Hamas did not release Islamist prisoners within 72 hours.

 

The Salafists were particularly incensed about an arrest last month of an Islamic leader said to support ISIS ideology.

 

The free WND special report “ISIS Rising,” by Middle East expert and former Department of Defense analyst Michael Maloof, will answer your questions about the jihadist army threatening the West.

 

Last month, WND was first to report Hamas had been preparing a major crackdown on Salafist cells supportive of ISIS ideology, fearing the group could indeed make such a declaration of control over Gaza, according to Middle Eastern security officials.

 

Asked by WND for comment on the report, Mushir al Masri, a member of Hamas’ parliament and a media spokesman for the group, denied ISIS was even present in the Gaza Strip.

 

“This is not the first time Israeli and Western media tried to pit us against ISIS. There is no truth to these claims, and ISIS is not in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

 

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