Bigger Lessons of Gaza's Internal Fighting

The recent internal fighting between Hamas and a fringe militant group may offer some lessons for U.S. foreign policy and outside observers. Concerning the debate about whether Israel's isolation of Hamas is feasible or desirable, this past weekend's fighting offer a vision of a potentially grim future.

Ehab al-Ghussein, the interior ministry's spokesman in Gaza, said in a printed statement that Gaza "is calm now and the whole situation is under full security control" after two days of fierce fighting. Hamas forces and the group, Jund Ansar Allah, or "Warriors of God," a Salafi Jihadi (Sunnite) group, fought after Hamas tried to arrest its leader.

The group's spiritual leader Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa, a physician, announced the establishment of an Islamic emirate within the Gaza Strip at a sermon last Friday.

The fighting between the governing Hamas and this insurgent group ended Saturday, leaving 24 people killed and more than 120 wounded. Moussa and his aide and military leader Abu Abdullah al-Souri, better known as Abu Abdullah al-Muhajer, died. It is unclear how they were killed. Hamas says Moussa was killed when he blew up an explosives vest he was wearing during the shootout.

Jund Ansar Allah's website, as the video above shows, carried eulogies for the fallen fighters and announced it will have a new leader soon.

Ghussein urged that the group's members turn themselves in, and labeled them "outlaws."

Political analysts see the new group, one of several recent ones that seem inspired ideologically by Al-Qaeda, as not posing a threat to Hamas, yet. Some consider the group extremist and purely theocratic, and opposed to the nationalism aims of Hamas' ideology. On its website, Jund Ansar Allah disavowed any links to Al-Qaeda, however.

Ghussein said Moussa's group was Palestinian and had no external ties. He said the group has carried out bomb attacks on Internet cafés and wedding parties, in what he described as a misguided attempt to impose Islamic Law on Gaza.

Gaza-based rights groups have called for "probing into the incidents" and criticized the Hamas government for involving its armed wing al-Qassam Brigades in the fighting.

Israeli and pro-Israeli commentators criticized Hamas heavily for its overuse of force, which damaged a mosque and left a young girl dead. Orly Halpern noted the double standard that left many of these observers defensive of Israel during its bombardment and invasion of Gaza earlier this year.

Amjad Atallah considers whether this should give way to a review of U.S. foreign policy and a possible search for "common cause" between the Obama administration and Hamas. Implicit in his analysis is the view that Hamas is a pragmatic actor and can be negotiated with, a view advanced by Mark Perry at the Palestine Center's last annual conference.

Atallah draws on Somalia's experience with instability since the downfall of the Islamic Courts Union as a lesson for US foreign policy, and notes that Hamas's durability cannot be ignored. The fact that the group implemented law and order, even if oppressive, is important. Whereas the Bush administration undermined the ICU in Somalia, the outcome there -- the rise of Al-Shabab and piracy -- has been worse; it may have been more fruitful to engage and pressure the established order. Ignoring Hamas, by the same token, has not been constructive.

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

Share |