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Hamas Pursuing Salafists from "Street to Street" in Gaza

(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Kifah Zaboun - Over the past two days Hamas has been carrying out a campaign of arrests against armed Salafist Jihadist groups in Gaza. The campaign was begun in the aftermath of last month's attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint that resulted in the deaths of 16 Egyptian soldiers. Egypt has said the attack was carried out by 6 foreign nationals and one Egyptian citizen. Hamas intensified its arrests of Salafist Jihadists after rockets were fired at the Israeli town of Sderot, with the Mujahideen Shura Council [MSC] claiming responsibility. Salafist Jihadist official Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir told Asharq Al-Awsat: "Hamas arrested 37 [Salafist Jihadist] members in a short period of time, including 20 arrests over the past 48 hours....They are pursuing the jihadists from house to house and street to street." Al-Muhajir claimed the Hamas investigation is focusing on where the Salafist Jihadists are obtaining their arms, as well as the membership and command structure of the MSC. The Salafist Jihadist movement issued a statement on Tuesday from Gaza accusing Hamas of "carrying out a broad campaign of arrests targeting our ranks in order to prevent the firing of rockets towards the Zionist towns near Gaza." The statement accused Hamas of arresting the Salafist Jihadist leader of Jaish al-Umma, Abu Hafs al-Maqdisi, as well as senior figure Abu Suhaib Rashwan, who, it claimed, had been interrogated and tortured by Egyptian security officers.
2012-09-07 00:00:00
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