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Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Hamas/Salafi intrafada heats up - and Hamas sets up checkpoints!

No, I am not referring to this story from earlier today.

Yesterday, IMEMC reported:
A group claiming allegiance with ISIS issued a statement, Sunday, claiming responsibility for assassinating a senior Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip, by detonating his store in Khan Younis.

The group, calling itself Supporters of the Islamic State in Beit al-Maqdis, said it assassinated Saber Siam for what it claimed, “participating in the heretical war against the Mujahidin," and called on Hamas to “end its war on religion in Gaza, or face the consequences.”

The group also warned the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to stay away from government-run offices and facilities, and all Hamas-run security or military centers, in the coastal region. Hamas officials and Hamas-run websites did not comment on the attack.

Earlier the month, the group fired shells into a training center for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas in Khan Younis, Agence France Presse said.

The attack is believed to be related to an alleged attack by Hamas on a mosque, reportedly “frequented by ISIS supporters plotting against the government,” in Deir al-Balah.
And today:
A suspected Salafist gunman was killed by Hamas security officers in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on Tuesday morning, security sources told Ma'an.

Sources said that officers arrived at the house of 27-year-old Yussef al-Hatarman with the intention of arresting him because he was keeping "illegal" weapons.

"The officers asked him to turn himself in, but he refused and threatened to blow himself up," they said.

They said that security officers then clashed with the gunman, "and managed to hit him before he could blow himself up."

Witnesses reported seeing an ambulance remove a second casualty from the building following the gun battle, though this was not confirmed.
Here's the weapons stash Hamas claims to have found in Hatarman's home:


See? Hamas is a moderate force fighting ISIS terrorists! We're practically allies!

But the best part is this, from FT:
Night-time security checkpoints have gone up around Gaza City over the past month — the most visible sign of a crackdown by the ruling Islamist movement Hamas on local followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or Isis).
Checkpoint? Aren't they the worst possible thing anyone can do to anyone else? Aren't they a basic violation of the fundamentals of human rights? Aren't checkpoints a war crime?

Oh, sorry. It all depends on the context.

(h/t Yoel, Adam L)