GAZA – ISLAMIST RADICALS from a Palestinian group called Jund Ansar Allah defied the Hamas rulers of Gaza yesterday by declaring an “Islamic emirate” in the territory and staging a defiant display of arms.
Though the “Warriors of God” rallied only a few hundred men for their event at a Gaza mosque, it was the latest challenge to Hamas’s nationalist brand of Palestinian Islam by groups espousing a pan-Arab militancy aligned with al-Qaeda.
It was followed by reports of gunfire in the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border, where the leader of the movement is based. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said Hamas was engaged in armed clashes with his supporters.
Speaking before weekly prayers, Abdel-Latif Moussa – known to followers by the al-Qaeda-style nom de guerre Abu al-Nour al- Maqdessi – announced the start of theocratic rule in the Palestinian territories, starting at Rafah, and vowed to implement Islamic laws.
“We declare the birth of the Islamic emirate,” declared Maqdessi, a heavily-bearded, middle-aged cleric in a red robe who was guarded by four black-clad, masked men with assault rifles. One wore what appeared to be an explosive suicide belt.
An audience of several hundred men filled the mosque with cheers and shouts. Al-Qaeda uses the historical term “emirate” to mean clerical rule across the Islamic world.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called Maqdessi’s speech “wrong thinking” and in a clear reference to al-Qaeda, added that his group “has no affiliation with foreign groups”. Hamas’s interior ministry was blunter, calling Maqdessi “mad”.
His group announced its existence in Gaza two months ago, after three of its members were killed in a border raid on an Israeli base in which gunmen rode on horseback.
Outside the mosque on Friday, nearly 100 masked fighters of the group in Pakistani-style dress, wearing their hair long in a style believed to imitate the prophet Muhammad, carried automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
Men of the Hamas armed wing and security forces took positions nearby. The group accuses Hamas of oppressing them, including making arrests and confiscating weapons. – (Reuters)