Hamas takes bold action against the Wahhabi "Lal Masjid" in Gaza

One of very few bold steps taken by General Musharraf was his decision to eliminate the Wahhabi/Deobandi terrorist gang holed up in Islamabad's Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), although it was too little too late given the fact the Musharraf himself was, along with his ISI, complicit in the rise of Taliban (Wahhabi-Deobandi alliance) in Pakistan.

However, it seems that history is repeating itself, this time in Gaza. Here is a report by Al Jazeera TV:

Islamist leader dies in Gaza battle

Moussa, centre, died after declaring an "Islamic emirate" in the Gaza Strip [Reuters] The leader of an Islamist group that declared an "Islamic emirate" in the occupied Palestinian territories was among at least 24 people killed in clashes with Hamas security forces. Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers of the Companions of God), was killed during fighting at his house in the Gaza town of Rafah early on Saturday, the Hamas-run interior ministry said. Ihab Ghussein, a Hamas interior ministry spokesman, said that Moussa had detonated an explosives vest that he was wearing. "The so-called Moussa has committed suicide ... killing a mediator who had been sent to him to persuade him and his followers to hand themselves over to the government," he said. Dr Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that six police officers and an 11-year-old girl were also among the dead after several hours of fighting outside Moussa's home and the Ibn Taymiya mosque where he was imam. Hassanain said that 150 people were wounded in the fighting. Hamas also confirmed the death in the fighting of Abu-Jibril Shimali, a high-level commander whom Israel says orchestrated the capture of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier still being held in the Gaza Strip. 'Islamic emirate' The fighting began on Friday after Moussa proclaimed "the creation of an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip" during a sermon in the mosque and called for the territory to be governed purely by sharia (Islamic law). In video Islamists killed after challenging Hamas Hamas security officials blocked all roads to Rafah and declared the town a closed military zone as they battled about 100 of his supporters. At least 40 members of the group have been arrested, according to the interior ministry, but search operations continued in Rafah on Saturday evening. "We hold Jund Ansar Allah and Moussa responsible for what happened because of his rash declaration of an emirate," Taher al-Nono, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, said. Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rafah, said Jund Ansar Allah subscribed to a "very radical and strict interpretation" that is commonly referred to as Salafism. "It's really the ideological force behind many of these attacks we've seen in Afghanistan and elsewhere," Mohyeldin said. "It really divides the Muslim world from the Christian and Western world and believes that there is a direct clash of civilisations. "This group here in Gaza sees itself as part of that wider conflict. "They subscribe to that philosophy, calling on their followers to adopt it in their struggle to end both Israel's occupation and the occupation of all Muslim lands at the hands of Western powers." 'Not accepted' Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Moussa's group had little support among the Palestinian people. "I think these people are a very small group and have no strong impact on people," he said. "What has happened has confirmed the reality that Hamas is different, Hamas is not al-Qaeda" Diaa Rashwan, expert on political Islam "Hamas is a wide organisation in Palestinian society and most people in Gaza are moderate people ... but these people are inspired by small groups, radical groups from outside, I think they are not accepted by Palestinian people." Hamas, whose surprise election win in 2006 led to international sanctions, seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after forcing out security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. In the West Bank, Saeb Erekat, an aide to Abbas and a senior figure in the rival Fatah movement, said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was "alarming". "Gaza is going down the drain in chaos and lawlessness," he said. Diaa Rashwan, an expert on political Islam at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that pressure on Hamas had "opened the door" for such groups to establish a power base in the territory. "Such Islamic groups are criticising Hamas, because of the way it negotiates ... and the way it accepted democracy and accepted elections," he said. "What has happened has confirmed the reality that Hamas is different, Hamas is not al-Qaeda. We have deep differences between Hamas's methods and al-Qaeda or Salafist jihadist methods."

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Aid to Gaza: Hamas and Israel - What is the difference?

Israelis halt ship carrying aid toward Gaza

From Nada Husseini
CNN

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israeli warships halted a ship laden with 50 tons of aid for Gaza about 20 miles off the territory's coast Wednesday, an activist said.

The Lebanese Fraternity was halted at 8:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), said the Lebanese aid coordinator, Maan Bashur.

The cargo included medical equipment, food and toys, he said.

The ship's nine passengers included six Lebanese activists and a Lebanese religious man, a British activist and a Palestinian religious man, he said.

The Israelis warned that any continuation by the Togo-flagged ship of its journey would break international law, Bashur said. Accompanying the Israeli ships were two Israeli helicopters.

In a separate incident, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency condemned the confiscation Tuesday by Palestinian police of more than 3,500 blankets and 400 food parcels from a distribution center in Gaza and demanded its return.

"This took place after UNRWA staff had earlier refused to hand over the aid supplies to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs," the agency said in a written statement. "The police subsequently broke into the warehouse and seized the aid by force."

The aid was to have been distributed to 500 area families, it said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/04/gaza.aid/

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Hamas seizes UN food aid and blankets in Gaza

Updated at: 1140 PST, Thursday, February 05, 2009
JERUSALEM: Hamas police in Gaza broke into a warehouse full of United Nations humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages, a UN spokesman said, a rare public clash between the international agency that feeds much of the territory and the group that rules it.

The incident highlighted difficulties facing donors seeking to bypass Hamas while helping Gazans survive and rebuild after Israel's punishing military operation.

Hamas policemen stormed into an aid warehouse in Gaza City and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families, said United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Christopher Gunness.

Police seized the aid after UNRWA officials refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs, he said. Similar aid packages were distributed to 70,000 residents over the past two weeks, Gunness said.

In New York, UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said UNRWA "condemned in the strongest terms" the confiscation of its aid supplies.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=67601

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VIDEO: Hamas accused of UN aid snatch
Thu Feb 5, 2009 2:29am GMT

Feb. 4 - The United Nations is demanding the return of food parcels and blankets it says were seized by Hamas police from a warehouse.

UN officials say aid they planned to distribute to 500 Palestinian families was taken after they refused to hand over the supplies to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. Paul Chapman reports.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUK123380106825
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