(Haaretz) Zvi Barel - The mortar barrage against Israel not only relates to Jihad's power struggles with Hamas, but to internal divisions within the group regarding Iran's influence over its leadership. Hamas views Islamic Jihad's actions as violating the rules which have governed the conduct of the two groups since the start of the internal Palestinian reconciliation process, in particular, the rules - dictated by Egypt since it has assumed control of the talks - concerning conduct towards Israel. Islamic Jihad's leader Ramadan Shalah is non-functional following repeated cardiac surgery in Beirut (supervised by Iranian doctors). He lost consciousness in April, which gave rise to rumors that he'd been poisoned. His deputy, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, has been the stand-in leader since then. He is considered to be loyal to Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, which is giving some financial support to Islamic Jihad. Other senior members of the organization prefer ties with Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood over ties with Iran.
2018-05-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive