Radical Islamists add to Hamas' burden
On top of its many other security and political challenges, Hamas is also dealing with the radical Islamist elements in Gaza that are firing rockets at Israel while Hamas struggles to maintain a cease-fire agreement.
The political and security situation in the Gaza Strip has become more complicated with the rise of Palestinian groups that are reportedly sympathetic to the Islamic State (IS) and operate under its banner.
While radical jihadist Salafist elements have existed in Gaza for years, this is the first time that responsibility for a rocket fired at Israel has been claimed by an organization apparently publicly aligned with IS. The claim came by way of a statement posted on Twitter under the name of Omar Hadid Brigade, reading that the June 2 attack was an act of revenge for Hamas killing its fighter Younis Hanar on June 1. Factions in Gaza often show their dissatisfaction with Hamas by firing rockets at Israel while Hamas is under a cease-fire agreement.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attacks against it and on June 4, Israeli warplanes bombed two training bases of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza. No one was injured.
While it is early to say whether IS has found a foothold in Gaza, there are signs of increased pressure in the past few months on women, intellectuals and moderate figures in Gaza from radical Islamic elements.
