Al-Qaeda branch in prison (Archive photo)
Photo: Ra'anan Ben Zur
Prisoners join al-Qaeda
Hamas prisoners who felt group wasn’t ‘radical enough’ decided to join global terror network, Channel 2 reports; Shin Bet recovers Qaeda propaganda material. Two prisoners trained in Afghanistan, Pakistan
The Israel Prison Service has discovered that nine Hamas prisoners with “blood on their hands” decided to join al-Qaeda, Channel 2 reported Tuesday evening.
“We’re talking about a move of defiance against the Hamas, which isn’t radiical enough…in the prisoners view,” a prison official said.
About a month ago, prison guards were able to recover written messages that prisoners attempted to smuggle to each other. An examination revealed the notes contained al-Qaeda propaganda, detailed the terror network’s ideology, and provided instructional information.
Prison officials suspected an al-Qaeda attempt to draw prisoners to their side and initiated a full-scale investigation, which revealed that nine prisoners with “blood on their hands” were involved in the affair. Two of the detainees were trained by al-Qaeda in the past after staying in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hamas prison leaders unimpressed
A further examination revealed that the nine prisoners informed Hamas prison leaders they were no longer part of the Palestinian organization, but rather, members of al-Qaeda. Prison Service intelligence officials promptly met with Hamas leaders in prison and discovered they too were unhappy about the “defection” of the nine detainees.
“In their (the nine prisoners) opinion, Hamas is not doing enough, not carrying out enough terror attacks, and allowing the Jihad organization to lead the struggle against Israel,” a prison official said. “Their move was meant to create a situation in prison where they serve as al-Qaeda’s arm in jail.”
Prison officials are now acting to prevent the prisoners from directing attacks against Israel from inside the prison walls, and are also undertaking efforts to stop the al-Qaeda prisoners from inciting other detainees and leading attacks on prison guards.
