Hamas Mob Storms Mosque in Gaza

In Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, right on the border with Egypt, comes a heartwarming story of the violence one terror group, Hamas, visited on members of a rival group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. More on this fracas can be found here: “Trouble in paradise? Clashes between Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Rafah. Media silent, as usual.,” Elder of Ziyon, July 19, 2023:

Last night, a mob of Hamas members entered a Gaza mosque and attacked Islamic Jihad officials there.

Hamas militia and the militants from the Al-Qassam Brigades attacked two members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Jihad Movement, in the city of Rafah.

Eyewitnesses reported that Hamas members stormed  the Al-Awda Mosque, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad, and assaulted the PIJ officials there….

Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying…they were surprised at the large numbers of Hamas members attacking the mosque….

The Hamas mob – who came armed with knives, and used as well chairs inside the mosque – severely injured Yahya Mansour and another “official” of the PIJ. If other PIJ members were attacked, their injuries were not severe enough to merit mention.

There are clearly tensions between Hamas and Islamic Jihad that no one is talking to the media about. And they are both trying to keep their differences quiet. Islamic Jihad’s statement ended off with:

Brothers, the sons of this struggle, our weapons are pure, we advise you to restrain your anger and not pay attention to the problems created by some suspicious people and pay attention only to the direction of the Zionist enemy. Our guns are pure, our direction is known, and the compass can only be diverted by the enemies of the resistance….

But notice how the media simply doesn’t want to cover a story about major differences between the two largest armed groups in Gaza. It is almost like they agree with the terror groups that it is better to keep these things private and only attack Israel. 

Why would a Hamas mob attack members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad just now? They are not allies but rival terror groups, both in Gaza, where Hamas has ruled the Strip since 2007, when it killed or expelled hundreds of Fatah members, and in the West Bank, where both terror groups have been making inroads at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, attracting young disaffected Palestinians who despise Mahmoud Abbas for his corruption, and mismanagement, and want more attacks on the hated Zionists.

The 44-hour war in Jenin camp launched by the IDF was aimed only at the PIJ, that had recently been responsible for several murderous attacks on Israeli civilians. In all that time, Hamas did not lift a finger. It did not launch rockets into Israel from Gaza; no Hamas fighters joined the PIJ in trying to fight off the IDF in Jenin. After the campaign was over, Hamas joined all the Palestinians in declaring a “victory” over the Zionist enemy, supposedly “driven out of Jenin camp” by Palestinians whom Hamas refrained from identifying as PIJ fighters. But that was the extent of Hamas’ participation.

This was the second time this year that the PIJ faced Israel without any support from Hamas. Between May 9 and May 13 the IDF attacked PIJ fighters in Gaza. Gaza’s ruling Hamas supported the PIJ only by sharing a joint command room, but it did not fire a single rocket.

Since the Jenin mini-war, the PIJ has been fulminating against Hamas’ failure to. support it, depicting itself as now the sole paladin of the Palestinian “resistance.” Naturally this claim has infuriated Hamas, that is not solely a terror group as the PIJ is, but also has the responsibilities of rule in Gaza, and has therefore tried not to be drawn into hostilities with the IDF, knowing what the result would be.

The PIJ’s criticism of Hamas’ inaction during IDF attacks in both May and in July, was what finally led a Hamas mob to enter that mosque in Rafah to teach the PIJ a lesson. The result was the violent attack on two PIJ officials, including Yahya Mansour. Judging by the PIJ’s mild verbal response, it is now worried about other attacks by resentful Hamas members, and will likely tone down its criticism.

As for those of us watching from afar, we can only hope that these scorpions in a bottle will continue to sting one another. Pull up a chair, and watch.