Al Qaeda's recruiting in the Palestinian territories

By Olivier Guitta

Following my post and article on Al Qaeda's master plan to attack Israel in the next three years, a Jordanian intelligence source confirmed to Al Hayat that a major Al Qaeda attack was just very recently foiled in Gaza.
This source also confirmed that Al Qaeda has been expanding in Gaza and tried to penetrate the West Bank but with less success there.

A Palestinian Islamist also underlined that the recruitment of the Al Qaeda's Palestinian cell was undertaken via Internet, which was confirmed by Jordanian intelligence services. This cell is composed of about ten individuals who are very cautious and use women to transmit messages and weapons.
Interestingly enough, this operational mode is quite similar to what happened in Jordan.

Another huge consequence of Al Qaeda's increasing role is going to be its relations with Hamas. Al Zawahiri's recent message to Hamas encouraging continuing their attack on Israel has been received coldly by some in the Hamas leadership. It seems as though there might be a fracture between the "political wing" and the military wing of Hamas. In fact, Hamas has been criticized by some of its own for running in the elections and implementing a "truce" with Israel.

That's why Al Qaeda is using this perceived weakness to recruit among disenchanted hardcore Hamas members. According to Al Hayat, about 200 Hamas members have conducted negotiations with a foreign organization, most probably Al Qaeda. Coincidentally or not, Al Mokdad Omar wrote a letter to Palestinian Islamist to encourage them to join Al Qaeda.

The news website Elaph goes further in revealing that Mohammed Daef, the leader of the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas main military organization, recently joined the ranks of Bin Laden's organization.

Al Qaeda used this strategy in Jordan a few years ago to attract disenchanted Muslim Brothers.
Signs of a major destabilization in the Palestinian territories and Israel are all over the wall.

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