Also from Palestine, Gaza has a new warrior
14 Nov 2013 4:18 AM IST
Underscoring their shared Islamist credentials, the two groups quickly claimed the dead man as one of their own, proud to take responsibility for a Tel Aviv bus bombing in 2012 that he helped carry out and that wounded several Israelis.
The rivalry to monopolise Assi’s memory mirrors a much broader competition between the two groups, both of which are deemed terrorist organisations in the West, to attract supporters and kudos in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas, with robust political and military wings, rules the Gaza Strip and is clearly the senior Islamist party. Islamic Jihad has no ambition to govern, but it is quietly putting on muscle and has become the go-to group for both Iran and Syria.
This makes it increasingly dangerous for Israel and a possible threat for Hamas on the Palestinian militant landscape - although the group’s exclusive focus on fighting the Jewish state means it is not challenging Hamas for control of Gaza.
‘We seek to have a bigger presence in Gaza, the West Bank and in Jerusalem,’ said Sheikh Nafez Azzam, a member of Islamic Jihad’s political bureau who lives in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, on the desert border with Egypt.
Speaking in quiet, considered tones, he refers to Hamas as a brother in the decades-old conflict against old enemy Israel, but says governing Gaza means it has lost some of its focus.
‘Hamas’s greatest achievements came when they were in the resistance,’ he said, referring to the confrontation with Israel, which both groups are committed to destroying.
In an eight-day conflagration with Israel last November, Islamic Jihad surprised many Palestinians by becoming the first militant group to fire an Iranian-made missile some 70 km (44 miles) up the coast towards Israel’s financial hub, Tel Aviv.
Hamas emulated the feat later in the confrontation.
‘Firing a rocket into Tel Aviv is the same as firing a hundred rockets into Ashdod and Beer Sheva,’ said Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, referring to two Israeli cities near Gaza that were peppered with missiles.
The Tel Aviv rocket caused no damage, but it jolted the laid-back city, which had thought itself to be safe from Gaza, an impoverished enclave that is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians locked in perennial battle with Israel.
‘Islamic Jihad is dangerous because to a degree it is uncontrollable,’ said Yoni Fighel, a retired Israeli army colonel and a senior researcher at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzlia.
‘It doesn’t have to feed all the Palestinians in Gaza, so can be much more flexible and independent (than Hamas).’
The rivalry to monopolise Assi’s memory mirrors a much broader competition between the two groups, both of which are deemed terrorist organisations in the West, to attract supporters and kudos in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas, with robust political and military wings, rules the Gaza Strip and is clearly the senior Islamist party. Islamic Jihad has no ambition to govern, but it is quietly putting on muscle and has become the go-to group for both Iran and Syria.
This makes it increasingly dangerous for Israel and a possible threat for Hamas on the Palestinian militant landscape - although the group’s exclusive focus on fighting the Jewish state means it is not challenging Hamas for control of Gaza.
‘We seek to have a bigger presence in Gaza, the West Bank and in Jerusalem,’ said Sheikh Nafez Azzam, a member of Islamic Jihad’s political bureau who lives in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, on the desert border with Egypt.
Speaking in quiet, considered tones, he refers to Hamas as a brother in the decades-old conflict against old enemy Israel, but says governing Gaza means it has lost some of its focus.
‘Hamas’s greatest achievements came when they were in the resistance,’ he said, referring to the confrontation with Israel, which both groups are committed to destroying.
In an eight-day conflagration with Israel last November, Islamic Jihad surprised many Palestinians by becoming the first militant group to fire an Iranian-made missile some 70 km (44 miles) up the coast towards Israel’s financial hub, Tel Aviv.
Hamas emulated the feat later in the confrontation.
‘Firing a rocket into Tel Aviv is the same as firing a hundred rockets into Ashdod and Beer Sheva,’ said Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, referring to two Israeli cities near Gaza that were peppered with missiles.
The Tel Aviv rocket caused no damage, but it jolted the laid-back city, which had thought itself to be safe from Gaza, an impoverished enclave that is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians locked in perennial battle with Israel.
‘Islamic Jihad is dangerous because to a degree it is uncontrollable,’ said Yoni Fighel, a retired Israeli army colonel and a senior researcher at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzlia.
‘It doesn’t have to feed all the Palestinians in Gaza, so can be much more flexible and independent (than Hamas).’
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