Israel facing a growing al-Qaeda challenge

Haaretz reports that there is growing evidence of al Qaeda and other Jihadists increasing their presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In November, three al Qaeda-inspired terrorists, whose car was loaded with explosives, were killed in a gun battle with members of Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Unit near Hebron. The increasing radicalization of some elements in the West Bank is also bad news for the it’s bad news for the Palestinian Authority.

The growing presence of al Qaeda may be the result of the anti-Hamas policies of the military government in Egypt. The government of General al-Sissi has been battling Islamists in the Sinai Peninsula, and has clamped down on smuggling operations from Sinai to the Gaza Strip. With its financial and commercial ties to Egypt more limited, and with smuggling operations no longer available, Hamas has turned to al Qaeda and Jihadists-supporter Qatar for help.

One result has been renewed rocket attacks from Gaza against Israeli towns in the south.

“Clearly Hamas has the capacity to enforce its will over all the groups,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Fox News. “So many [rocket] shootings over such a short time could reflect in theory a loosening of Hamas control, or they could simply reflect a cynical game by Hamas, instrumentalizing these organizations in the same way [Yasser] Arafat did with Hamas in his time.”

A high-ranking Shin Bet official told Haaretz that in recent years, the global jihad movement has shown increased interest in perpetrating terror attacks against Israeli targets. This interest combines with the flow of Jihadist operatives to the region, mainly as part of the fight against Assad’s regime in Syria and the generals’ regime in Egypt. He said that the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip has taken a complex stance regarding these groups. Hamas is disturbed by activity against it, and in some cases it intervenes to prevent Gaza-based terror attacks against Israeli targets for fear of the trouble that such attacks would cause to it. Hundreds of members of global Jihad groups are active in the Gaza Strip.

A spokesman for the Palestinian security services in the West Bank told Haaretz that said there was “no indication” that al-Qaeda had a presence in the territory.

“Al-Qaida cannot operate here,” Adnan Damiri, said. “It needs broad logistical support and that cannot be here in this small area.”

Israel, he said, had arrested some naive “boys” and claimed they were al-Qaeda to halt American pressure to show more flexibility in peace talks. Israel has demanded that it retain a presence in parts of the Palestinian-claimed West Bank after any future peace deal due to security concerns.