Report: Hamas takes on Gaza's Salafists
London's Al-Sharq Al-Awsat says Gaza government is trying to curb radicals' terror activities fearing Israeli operation
Hamas government in Gaza Strip has ordered its security forces to crackdown on the Salafi groups operating in the Strip, the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday.
The order reportedly followed the recent increase in rocket fire on Israel, which Hamas fears may lead to a wide-scale Israeli operation in the area.
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"Hamas forces deployed en masse yesterday and raided various areas in Gaza in search of Mujahideen Shura Council operatives," a Hamas security source was quoted as saying.
The Islamist movement has also allegedly warned the other Palestinian factions in Gaza against collaborating with any of the Salafist cells.
Hamas also ordered Gaza's media not to cover any of the Salafi groups' operations.
The recent bout of rocket fire on Israel's south has been claimed by a group called "Jamaat Mujahideen Baitul Muqaddas," which is affiliated with al-Qaeda.
Tensions between Hamas and the Salafi groups in Gaza Strip have always been palpable, and the situation escalated following August's attack on the Egyptian border post in Rafah, in which 16 Egyptian patrolmen were killed.
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