Ma'an -- The Hamas-controlled de facto government has denied an Israeli news report that foreign fighters have entered the Gaza Strip and set up organizations.A spokesperson for the de facto government's Interior Ministry Ehab Al-Ghussein said that all the armed groups in the Gaza Strip are Palestinian organizations whose goal is to resist Israeli occupation, and nothing beyond that.
Al-Ghussein's comments were in response to a report published earlier this week on the website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The report claimed that dozens of "Islamic terrorists" have entered the Gaza Strip over the past year and are operating there "in the framework of extremist organizations identified with the 'worldwide Jihad.'"
The Haaretz report quoted Israeli military officials who stated that men who had fought US troops in Iraq had managed to enter Gaza.
However, Al-Ghussein said there are "individual cases" of foreign elements or people linked to foreign organizations, which Hamas security is monitoring. He said these individuals do not represent any threat to Palestinian security.
Separately, a previously unknown armed organization calling itself the "Sunna Group Supporters of Prophet Muhammad's Teachings" claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing two mortar shells toward Israel.
The group said in a statement their fighters launched two mortar shells at Israeli army vehicles stationed near a military watchtower east of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli media, mortar shell fired from Gaza landed across the border, in the desert in the Eshkol Regional council, causing no injuries.