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2011-12-12 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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Islamic Jihad challenges Hamas with help from Iran
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Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, it hasn't faced a real challenge to its rule. Until now.
Today, its main rival is Islamic Jihad, which until recently was considered compliant with Hamas's proxies. But in recent months, Islamic Jihad has made a quite a leap in its capabilities and military infrastructure. This is a direct result of Iran's divergence of funds traditionally allocated to Hamas to Islamic Jihad instead. According to some estimates, Iran's support has given Islamic Jihad, a rocket arsenal that compares in its quantity and quality with that of Hamas.
The main cause for the Iran-Hamas split was the Palestinian terrorist group's decision to abandon the Assad regime in Syria and begin moving its political-military bureau out of Damascus. Reportedly, most of the senior Hamas command has already left Syria and a headquarters that once had hundreds of operatives now has only a few dozen left.
Western intelligence agencies are tracking Hamas operatives to discern where the new headquarters will be established. Among the leading candidates are Egypt, Sudan and Jordan. Qatar is also a possibility but Khaled Mashaal, head of the bureau, is said to want to be close to the Gaza Strip.
The departure from Damascus be a short term benefit to Israel. Without a clear base and a patron like Assad, Mashaal and the overseas branch of Hamas will be weakened and might have difficulty sustaining the logistical support they had been providing for the group's Gaza-based activities.
Iran's decision to slash its funding of Hamas is also hurting the group and Hamas is searching for new sources of income, such as its decision last month to fine the Bank of Palestine $150 million on bogus charges.
As a result, Hamas does not want -- at the moment -- a major confrontation with the Israel, since an attack on Israel would hinder its fund-raising efforts. This is thought to be one of the reasons why Hamas preferred not to get involved in this weekend's attacks against Israel. 
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Posted by ryuge 2011-12-12 00:00||
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File under: Islamic Jihad
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Posted by Lord Garth 2011-12-12 00:29||
2011-12-12 00:29||
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Posted by JosephMendiola 2011-12-12 02:18||
2011-12-12 02:18||
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