The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with their operatives on the run, have increasingly forged a common front against Israel, and there are signs they are also being guided by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
Who are subsidiaries of the Ayotallahs.
Days after issuing a joint statement calling for coordinated "resistance" against Israel, the two groups attacked an Israeli army base Friday in the Netzarim settlement in the Gaza Strip, killing three soldiers and reviving heated debate in Israel over whether to hang on to the Jewish enclave.
| If they were to dump Netzarim, Hamas and IJ would be bragging for the next 20 years how they ran the Zionists out, just like Hezbollah claims credit for running Israel out of Lebanon... |
The two groups have cooperated to a lesser degree in the past, with militants joining forces at the local level, but last week’s call for coordinated attacks signals closer ties — a consolidation that might make the groups more efficient and more difficult to bring down.
| I'd say it's a sign they've both been whittled down to the point where they have to combine resources to stay in business. That leaves one target, rather than two sometimes competing targets... |
Adnan Asfour, a Hamas leader in the West Bank, said the alliance with Islamic Jihad is a response to Israel’s increasing military pressure, including its hunt for members of the groups’ military wings and, more recently, political leaders. Israeli officials are clearly concerned, especially by what some say is a growing involvement in the Palestinian territories of Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Syria and Iran. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and the army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, told the Cabinet on Sunday that Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are planning joint attacks in Israel. Since Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted three years ago, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have carried out 15 joint operations, mostly gunbattles, according to Hamas. The deadliest, a strike June 8 that also included the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, killed four soldiers before the gunmen were fatally shot. The two groups’ leaders convened a meeting Oct. 20, led by Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, leader of Islamic Jihad. A statement faxed that day to the Associated Press in Beirut said "the two movements agreed to confront the Zionist aggression on our people in Palestine and to urge all [Palestinian] factions and resistance forces to coordinate among each other to confront this aggression."
| "we've been whittled down to two pointy little nubbins, so we're going to combine our resources so we still have enough cannon fodder to carry on operations against the common enemy, who's been beating the crap out of us..." |
The extent of Hezbollah’s involvement in the Palestinian territories remains murky. Osama Hamdan, a Hamas leader in Lebanon, said Hezbollah had not been actively involved in attacks against Israel and the group was not present at the Oct. 20 meeting. Mr. Asfour said Hamas leaders later met separately with Hezbollah representatives "for the purpose of political and public-relations cooperation."
And if you can’t trust Osama, who can you trust?
Still, Friday’s attack in Netzarim was the latest of a series of Palestinian attacks with Hezbollah’s fingerprints. Hamas and Islamic Jihad spent weeks spying on Netzarim, planning the attack and waiting for ideal weather conditions — a pea-soup fog — to move in. Two gunmen, one of whom escaped, burst into the soldiers’ sleeping quarters, spraying machine-gun fire in all directions. Surveillance footage of the settlement — showing settlers’ cars and bike riders moving along the town’s roads — is reminiscent of images Hezbollah would release after successful attacks on the Israeli army.
I tend to think that the rivalries between these groups are more in terms of friendly competition over who can kill the most Jews, rather than some ideological dispute. Often times family members will belong to different groups, or change orgs depending on how much they get paid.
| The Hezbollah involvement probably involves training and tactics at this point, but not structural support. IJ's funding used to come from Iran through Hezbollah, but was split off last year. Hamas has been more a Soddy creature. So there are conflicting lines of (ultimate) control. Hezbollah wants to stay in the Armed Struggle™ game, but runs the risk of causing a major military confrontation in south Lebanon, which wouldn't please its Syrian masters — nor probably its Iranian masters at this moment. |
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