BBC News forced to apologise after ‘Hamas supporters’ comments
After yesterday’s deadly blast at a Gaza City hospital, Israel today accused Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) of launching the rocket responsible – countering claims by Hamas that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) was responsible.
The explosion, which occurred just hours before US President Joe Biden touched down in Israel, is thought to have claimed the lives of 500 people, prompting furious protests across the Middle East and elsewhere.
Israel’s refusal to shoulder the blame has focused attention on Palestine’s two major militant groups, which are broadly aligned ideologically, both being committed to the ultimate destruction of Israel.
Nevertheless, the two organisations operate largely independently of one another, and there are important practical differences between them.
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What is the Palestinian Jihad?
Broadly speaking, PIJ, which is Palestine’s second-largest militant group, is regarded as more extreme in terms of its approach.
Backed by Iran, it is described by the US Director of Intelligence’s counter-terrorism guide as “a Sunni Islamist militant group seeking to establish an Islamist Palestinian state”.
Founded in 1979 as an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, its military wing, al-Quds Brigades, has launched multiple attacks on Israeli targets since the 1990s.
While it does sometimes co-ordinate its operations with Hamas, the two groups have a tense relationship stemming from the PIJ’s disapproval of Hamas’s strategy for confronting Israel.
How many members do they have?
With a membership estimated to total roughly 1,000, the US Department of State designated it as a foreign terrorist organisation in 1997.
The counter-terrorism guide says: “PIJ primarily employs small-arms and mortar and rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip against Israeli targets in Israel and the West Bank.
“The group conducted suicide bombings from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.
“It also has man-portable air defence systems, mortars, armed unmanned aircraft systems, anti-tank guided missiles, and IEDs.”
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What is Hamas?
Hamas, Palestine’s ruling political party, was formed in 1987 at the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
Its charter demands the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel, and it rejects all agreements made between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel.
Its strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and areas of the West Bank.
US Director of Intelligence’s counter-terrorism guide explains: “HAMAS has a military wing known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades that has conducted many anti-Israel attacks in both Israel and the Palestinian territories since the 1990s.
“These attacks have included large-scale bombings against Israeli civilian targets, small-arms attacks, improvised roadside explosives, and rocket attacks.”
In early 2006, Hamas won legislative elections in the Palestinian territories, thereby ousting the secular Fatah party’s control of the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas, which is designated by the US Government as a terrorist organisation, has consistently refused to renounce violent resistance against Israel and in early 2008 also carried out a suicide bombing resulting in the death of one civilian, plus numerous rocket and mortar attacks.
The counter-terrorism guide explains: “In July 2014, the uneasy calm between Hamas and Israel broke down completely after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank in June – deaths ascribed by Israel to Hamas – and a Palestinian was killed by Israeli settlers in revenge.
“Retaliatory rocket attacks by Hamas’s military wing and other Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip escalated into the longest and most lethal conflict with Israel since 2009.”
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