Hamas vs Islamic Jihad Smackdown

Grab the popcorn.

Al Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad has held Hamas Police in Gaza responsible for the death of a key Islamic Jihad field leader, Raed Qasim Jundiyah, who sustained serious head injuries when he clashed with Hamas police after they arrived at his residence in eastern Gaza to arrest him.

The Islamic Jihad said in a statement that Palestinian factions in Gaza have their own way of tackling the issues of the resistance groups and that there have been known channels to address disputes.

It accused Hamas of never adhering to those channels and regulations and of acting on its own which caused the death of Jundiyah, who is also one of Israel’s most wanted figures.

Islamic Jihad said that Jundiyah had been transferring arms from one place to another as the location of the arms has been known to some individuals who he believed may misuse them, but the Hamas authorities acted without coordination with the faction’s armed wing.

“Hamas police has ignored customary practice and regulations and took the issue into their own hands despite the fact that the issue was almost over and never needed police interference in the first place,” said the Islamic Jihad.

“Hamas police forces should not have directly approached Jundiyah’s home to arrest him especially given the fact that Jundiyah was accused by Hamas of conducting a resistance mission [against Israel],” said the Islamic Jihad.

Hamas, on the other hand, announced it had nothing to do with Jundiyah’s death and that he should have surrendered to the police authorities when they asked him to turn himself in.

“These claims that Hamas is not fully responsible for Jundiyah’s death cannot be accepted, since he has been a key target for Israel which had repeatedly tried to assassinate him,” said the Islamic Jihad.

A senior Islamic Jihad official in the West Bank said that the armed wing and the cadre have been instructed to show the highest level of restraint and discipline so that the crisis can be tackled by the Islamic Jihad leadership with its Hamas counterpart.

“We hope the issue will not develop into a crisis between the two factions,” he told Gulf News.

The official said that Hamas shows extreme care and attention for the truce which its leadership accomplished with the Israeli occupation and acts as if it was in full control of resistance in Gaza strip.

“The logic of Hamas which calls for resistance is not understandable and can not be justified any way,” he said.

More seething -as well as photos like the below – can be seen on the Islamic Jihad website.

He certainly looked like someone happy to murder.

Here’s hoping this leads to an all-out war between the terrorist organizations, and we get to read the poorly-worded obituaries of more pond scum.