The Hamas military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, has split into two groups after an attempt to depose its military commander, Ahmed Al-Jabari. Palestinian sources say the attempt to replace Al-Jabari with Imad Akal failed, but has split the organization into two camps: one led by Al-Jabari and the other by Akal.I did not read about any of these in the Palestinian Arab newspapers yet, even the anti-Hamas ones. They did report on a number of violent arrests by Hamas over the weekend of Fatah members as well as a bomb outside the offices of a different terror group.
Mohammed Deif, the former head of Iz al-Din al-Qassam, was behind the attempt, according to the sources.
The crisis in the Hamas military wing started, among other reasons, because of the long-standing disagreements and tension between Al-Jabari and the political leadership of Hamas in Gaza. But the tension exploded into the public eye as a result of the Hamas police's attempt to arrest members of the military group who were suspected of criminal activities. The Hamas militants resisted arrest, and the police and Iz al-Din al-Qassam members exchanged fire.
The head of the Hamas police in Gaza, Taufik Jabar, who is not a Hamas member, asked one of the heads of the Hamas political side, Said Siam, to intervene and ask Al-Jabari to hand over the militants - but Al-Jabari refused.
After the refusal, Siam turned to Deif, who was considered Israel's most wanted man for years; he holds no official post, but Deif is still considered to be a symbol to the movement and one of the most respected activists by Hamas militants.
Siam asked him to arbitrate between the sides, examine the matter and make a decision. After a short time Deif announced that Akal would replace Al-Jabari, but he refused.
In recent weeks assassination attempts have been made against one of Al-Jabari's closest supporters, Ali Jundiyeh, and Gazans assume Akal is behind the attempts.
What is the world coming to when you can't trust bloodthirsty terrorists to act responsibly?