[Jerusalem Post] Khaled Abu Toameh - According to Palestinian sources in Gaza, most of the gunmen fighting the IDF over the past few days are members of Hamas' armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, with 15,000 members divided into four brigades. The Hamas gunmen were using many American-made arms seized from the Fatah-controlled PA security forces in June. Other groups involved in the fighting include Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees, and some splinter factions of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades, operating in coordination with Hamas. Altogether, these groups have fewer than 1,500 gunmen in Gaza. Hamas is hoping that once the fighting is over, it will be able to declare "victory, as Hizbullah did after the war in 2006," said a Palestinian source.
2008-03-03 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive