Al Qaida announces presence in the Gaza Strip

World Tribune.com ^ | 8/05/05

[Man50D]

ABU DHABI — An announcement on an Al Qaida-aligned website said Osama Bin Laden has formed a military presence in Palestinian areas of the Gaza Strip. Israel plans to withdraw from the area by October 2005.

The announcement said Al Qaida has formed a group called "The Jihad Brigades in the Promised Land." The website, which has in the past posted announcements by Iraqi-based insurgency leader Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, asserted that the group carried out mortar and rocket attacks against Israeli communities in the central Gaza Strip.

The Al Qaida group was said to have used a new rocket called Sajil. The posting did not detail the capabilities of the Sajil. "The Brigades are not a new organization but merely a spirit of faith pushing the jihad fighters in the promised land to close ranks behind an honest and uncompromising leadership," the announcement on Aug. 3 said.

[On Thursday, Al Qaida threatened additional strikes in Britain and said the organization could also attack the United States. In a video broadcast, Al Qaida's No. 2 Ayman Zawahiri said the July 7 suicide bombings in London's mass transit system were the result of British deployment in Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported.]

Israeli military sources dismissed the announcement, which included a videotape of rocket attacks against the Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements. The sources said Al Qaida preferred more lethal attacks than mortar and rocket strikes, leaving them to such groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

But Israeli and Palestinian sources did not rule out the prospect that the purported Al Qaida group comprised an existing Palestinian militia. They pointed out that Bin Laden adopted Al Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad and renamed it Al Qaida in Iraq. Al Zarqawi has also established cells in Jordan.

One prospect was that the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees, founded in 2001, has been adopted by Al Qaida. The PRC, composed largely of Fatah insurgents, have maintained mortar and rocket fire against Israeli targets and issued statements that resemble those of Al Zarqawi.

Palestinian sources said the PRC was directed by Al Qaida-aligned elements. The group was said to be led by Jamal Abu Samhadana, based in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. PRC claimed responsibility for the ambush of a U.S. embassy convoy in 2003 in which three U.S. security guards were killed

[dervish]

Actually if the US has to move in to Gaza because it is/has become a place that harbors terrorists of the Al Qaeda variety, then PM Sharon will have proven the worth of Disengagement.

Have you ever seen the movie "The Mouse that Roared?"

[montag813]

Neville Chamberlain, meet Ariel Sharon and George W. Bush.

[jackv]

I've been saying for a long time that it is the perfect safe haven for binladen himself!!
Big surprise!

[EQAndyBuzz]

"the Cancer is spreading..... Time for some Nuclear medicine.
"

I am more cruel. Once Gaza is isolated from Israel, drop a nice strain of Ebola on the ground during a HAMAS rally.

[tessalu]

"The Jihad Brigades in the Promised Land." Who was this land promised to anyhow?

[nonliberal]

could also attack the United States.

Americans tend to not have a very high bull$#!+ tolerance. No Muslim would be able to leave their house for the next 50 years.

[Cinnamon]

what? Alqaida in Gaza? why, who could imagined something like that!??? this is a surprising development.... someone call NYT

[NatsFan]

The timing of this announcement seems to be VERY suspicious, coming so close to the planned pull out from Gaza. Having Al-Qaeda in Gaza would be the perfect cause to make the Israelis stay.

It makes no sense for Al Qaeda to issue such a message like this? If they had established a base in the Gaza Strip, why would they risk their foothold by making an announcement that could make the Israelis stay in Gaza.

The timing is so close to the pullout from Gaza it can't be coincidental. Whoever is behind this for some reason probably doesn't want the withdrawal to go through for some reason- it's probably best for Sharon to go ahead with the withdrawal plan.

[Ode To Ted Kennedys Liver]

...making themselves easier targets.

[rmlew]

Al Qaeda already had a sister org in Gaza, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and a cousin, Hamas.
The Muslim Brotherhood (Jama'at al-ikhwan al-muslimin) spawned a number of terrorist organizations including Egyptian Islamic Jihad (Al-Jihad). Al-Jihad went international, forming a subsidiary in "Palestine", which for a time was run out of Florida. Palestinian Jihad has since effectively merged with another break away from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
In the 1990's, Al Jihad, run by Ayman Al Zawahiri since 1991, broke with Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the rival Egyptian Islamist group formed from the Brotherhood. Zawahiri's Islamic Jihad joined with Pakistani and Afghani Salafists and the remains of Sheik Azzam's MAK under the nominial control of Osama Bin Laden. While Bin Laden formed Al Qaeda in 1988, it was not until this merger that it became a major international threat.

[Cindy]

Note: Click on the url to see the photos and further info.

http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/004664.html
August 03, 2005
"Al-Qaida in Palestine (Gaza)"

[dervish]

I disagree. This is the best reason for Israel to leave Gaza.

[truthandlife]

Remember this?

Rice says Israel must allow freedom for Gaza Strip

This is a big mistake by the Bush Administration and it will cause a lot of lives to be lost.