Clashes between Hamas police and a radical group that declared an “Islamic emirate” in the Gaza Strip left 22 people killed, including the group’s leader. “Clashes between Hamas and an extremist group in the southern Gaza Strip left 22 people dead and at least 120 wounded,” a spokesman for the Palestinian emergency services said on August 15. Abdul Latif Moussa, the leader of Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers of the Partisans of God), was killed in the clashes between Hamas police and his supporters in Rafah. A spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry confirmed that Moussa was killed in the clashes. About 15 gunmen, including Moussa’s aide Abu Abdullah As-Suri, and six Hamas policemen were killed in the clashes. The spokesman said about 40 “outlaws” affiliated with the group were arrested in Rafah. The clashes erupted following the Friday prayers and continued until dawn when Hamas police stormed a mosque in Rafah where Moussa defiantly declared an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip. “We are today proclaiming the creation of an Islamist Emirate in the Gaza Strip,” said Moussa a 47-year-old paediatrician. Moussa accused Hamas of failing to enforce Islamic law and seeking to appease the West. Jund Ansar Allah accuses Hamas of being “too liberal” and seeks the strict enforcement of Shari`ah. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri however described Moussa’s speech as “wrong thinking”. Hamas’s Interior Minister also described the radical leader as “mad”. “Everyone outside the law and carrying arms in order to spread chaos will be pursued and arrested,” the ministry warned.
The group is said to have threatened to burn down Internet cafes and to want greater modesty on Gaza beaches. Palestinian experts say the group consists of a few dozen activists and several hundred sympathisers and operates primarily in southern Gaza.