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Conflict between Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah in the Gaza Strip
The
Battle of Rafah (2009)
took place between
Hamas
and
Jund Ansar Allah
in the
Rafah Governorate
of the
Gaza Strip
.
[1]
Fighting between the two
Palestinian militant organizations
broke out on 14 August 2009, when Jund Ansar Allah's founder
Abdel Latif Moussa
denounced the
Hamas government
for supposedly failing to enforce
Islamic law
and for "not being any different from a
secular government
" since it ousted
Fatah
during the
Battle of the Gaza Strip
in June 2007. He subsequently proclaimed the establishment of the
Islamic Emirate of Rafah
and swore allegiance to
al-Qaeda
. In total, 26 people were killed and 150 were wounded during the conflict, including an 11-year-old Palestinian girl.
[2]
Moussa was killed in
Rafah
on 15 August 2009, triggering the collapse of Jund Ansar Allah and the Islamic Emirate of Rafah.
Events
[
edit
]
A day before the Hamas raid, Jund Ansar Allah leader,
Abdel Latif Moussa
, declared the
Islamic Emirate of Rafah
, and swore allegiance to
Al-Qaeda
. About 100 of his fighters were seen in a video where he pledged allegiance in his base, a mosque in Rafah. The next day,
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
attacked the Mosque and other bases of the group in Rafah. The fighting lasted 7 hours. It was reported that when Hamas reached the positions of Moussa and Jund Ansar Allah's military commander, Abu Abdullah al Suri, they detonated themselves. About 15 Jund Ansar Allah fighters were killed, 40 were captured, 5 civilians were killed. Al-Qassam brigades commander Abu Jibril Shimali, was also killed during the battle. The group was virtually destroyed after the fighting, having both of its leaders killed, and its bases captured. It was reported that Hamas later released some of the captured.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
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References
[
edit
]