Hamas: Too Liberal?
At least six Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Friday when Hamas police officers stormed a mosque that had been taken over by a group of Islamic militants.
The group’s leader had declared during Friday Prayer at the mosque that Hamas was too liberal and that from now on, Rafah, and soon all of Gaza, would be ruled by pure religious law. “We declare the birth of the Islamic emirate,” he said.
Hamas, an Islamist but Palestinian nationalist group that has ruled Gaza for the past two years, sent dozens of security officers to the mosque, where gun battles went on into the evening. Medics at Rafah Hospital said there were 6 dead and about 50 wounded, though some reports put the death toll as high as 16. At least one Hamas policeman was killed.
It's difficult to determine what exactly is going on here, but I know when Hamas took control of Gaza there were concerns that it could potentially become a sanctuary for al Qaeda and its affiliates. Perhaps that's what happened - this Islamist group, Jund Ansar Allah, was reported by the AP to have been at least inspired by al Qaeda. The AP goes onto speculate that Hamas has little patience for um, ideological diversity:
It also underscored the group's determination not to allow opponents with differing ideologies to gain a foothold in Gaza. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are together supposed to make up a future Palestinian state, but Hamas' bloody seizure of Gaza in 2007 created rival governments in the two territories — located on opposite sides of Israel — that are complicating Palestinian efforts to gain independence.Jund Ansar Allah claims inspiration from al-Qaida's ultraconservative brand of Islam but no direct links have been confirmed.
(A gunmen for Jund Ansar Allah stands guard outside a mosque in Gaza. AP Photos)
