Islamic Salafists allied with ISIS were behind the firing of at least one rocket from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, a senior Salafist in Gaza claimed in a phone call to WND.
The Salafist leader said three rockets were fired from Gaza Tuesday, not just one.
The Israeli media widely reported that at least one rocket was fired from Gaza to an open area near Gan Yavne, near the strategic port city of Ashdod.
At the moment, no Gazan group has claimed official responsibility for the rocket firing. Israel says it is holding Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper quoted security officials surmising the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad may have been behind today’s rocketing as part of an internal dispute.
The Salafist leader’s claim of responsibility to WND today could not be immediately verified. If accurate, it would mark an escalation of the militant capabilities of ISIS-aligned ideologues in Gaza who oppose Hamas rule.
The ISIS ideologues see Hamas as too pro-Western and believe the group sold out by holding elections and carrying out dialogue with members of the international community.
They may be seeking to embarrass Hamas and demonstrate their capabilities with the Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Today’s launches mark the first time a rocket was fired from Gaza since last month while the country was celebrating its Independence Day following four months of quiet.
WND reported last week that Hamas continues to find itself bombarded by Islamists in the Gaza Strip allied with ISIS, according to Middle Eastern security officials.
The officials believe it is only a matter of time before ISIS claims responsibility for attacks in Gaza. They further point to debates on ISIS-affiliated Internet forums discussing the timing of declaring the Gaza Strip as territory that is part of a larger Islamic caliphate that would also encompass the neighboring Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
In a major escalation, Islamist Salafists last 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 by an arrest last month of an Islamic leader said to support ISIS.
Last month, WND was first to report Hamas had been preparing a major crackdown on Salafist cells supportive of ISIS, 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.
Masri further clarified that “anyone caught breaking the law will be dealt with just like all lawbreakers according to the criminal justice system in Gaza.”
Any ISIS gains in Gaza would pose a major threat to both Israel and neighboring Egypt.
The moderate regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been fighting an ISIS and Salafist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula and beyond. The jihadists seek to connect the Sinai with the Gaza Strip to form one big territory.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/claim-isis-allies-fired-rockets-into-israel/
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