Hamas + Hezbollah = Ideology Does Not Matter
The new Global Jihad Monitor, put together by Jon Snow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies web site, is out. It is an excellent round-up of the last week's terror-related events.
Of all the stories linked summarized in the newsletter, I think this one is the most interesting. Reuters reports:
A Hamas Web site disclosed on Wednesday that fighters from the Palestinian militant group had received funding and training from the Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement in Lebanon, a link long denied by Hamas leaders.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza declined to comment on the information on the Web site, www.info@alqassam.ws, run by the group's armed wing, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam.
There was no immediate comment from Hizbollah in Beirut.
The site said Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel's destruction and won the January 25 Palestinian election, received funds from Hizbollah to set up the first Hamas cell in the occupied West Bank after an uprising began in 2000.
Over the course of three years, members of the cell -- 10 of whom were eventually killed or jailed by Israeli security forces -- carried out attacks that killed 18 Israelis.
Hamas member Jaser al-Barghouthi, who formed the cell and recruited its gunmen, sent emissaries to Lebanon "to be trained by Hizbollah and return with needed funds," the Web site said, without giving a figure. ...
This is yet another example of how there has been substantial cooperation between various terrorist entities. Contrary to what some in the U.S. intelligence community believe (including, at times, Paul Pillar) ideology does not preclude cooperation. The Sunni Islamist Hamas and the Iran-dominated Shiite Hezbollah draw from different ideological wells. Yet, when it comes to confronting their common enemy, Israel, ideology simply does not matter.
Of all the stories linked summarized in the newsletter, I think this one is the most interesting. Reuters reports:
A Hamas Web site disclosed on Wednesday that fighters from the Palestinian militant group had received funding and training from the Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement in Lebanon, a link long denied by Hamas leaders.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza declined to comment on the information on the Web site, www.info@alqassam.ws, run by the group's armed wing, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam.
There was no immediate comment from Hizbollah in Beirut.
The site said Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel's destruction and won the January 25 Palestinian election, received funds from Hizbollah to set up the first Hamas cell in the occupied West Bank after an uprising began in 2000.
Over the course of three years, members of the cell -- 10 of whom were eventually killed or jailed by Israeli security forces -- carried out attacks that killed 18 Israelis.
Hamas member Jaser al-Barghouthi, who formed the cell and recruited its gunmen, sent emissaries to Lebanon "to be trained by Hizbollah and return with needed funds," the Web site said, without giving a figure. ...
This is yet another example of how there has been substantial cooperation between various terrorist entities. Contrary to what some in the U.S. intelligence community believe (including, at times, Paul Pillar) ideology does not preclude cooperation. The Sunni Islamist Hamas and the Iran-dominated Shiite Hezbollah draw from different ideological wells. Yet, when it comes to confronting their common enemy, Israel, ideology simply does not matter.
posted by Thomas Joscelyn at 11:06 AM
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