40 Rockets Fired Into Israel

Another week of bleak weather in Israel—cloudy with a chance of rockets. In some ways, this latest storm isn’t much different than that which billowed in late 2012 prior to Operation Pillar of Defense. Yet there is one major distinction: This time, Hamas is not initiating the deluge.

Although the Gaza Strip is a small sliver of land, it is home to several terrorist groups. While Hamas is considered the dominant power and governor of the Strip, it faces growing challenges from other even more radical groups.

One such group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s downpour of rockets. Proclaiming the strike was in retaliation to Israeli actions, the al Quds Brigade—the military branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (pij)—stood defiant in the face of Israeli retaliation. For this group, the more heavy-handed Israel’s response the better. It wants another showdown with Israel.

The pij has operations in Gaza and the West Bank, and receives commands from its headquarters in Damascus. It also has offices in Beirut, Tehran and Khartoum. Although outnumbered by Hamas in Gaza, it is by no means incapable of conducting its own operations there. It proved as much this past week by raining down rockets and mortars on towns in southern Israel.

The pij has berated Hamas for not standing up to Israel, instead choosing the acquisition of power over jihad. The group wants more control of the Strip to establish itself as the new face of resistance against Israel. That is why it relishes a new confrontation with Israel.

Right now, Hamas is vulnerable. Increasing isolation has weakened the group. Iran has cut much of its funding after Hamas refused to get involved in the Syrian crisis. Hamas’s fallout with its sponsor—which provided it with an estimated $23 million a month—was a serious setback. The financial woes have only been compounded by the restrictions enforced by Egypt on Gaza’s southern border. Hamas is being starved of the black market goods that once poured in through the now-closed tunnels from Egypt.

The pij sees Hamas’s vulnerability, and will do what it can to capitalize on it—including inciting a fresh wave of violence against Israel.

Until the Syrian war began, Hamas was happy to take orders and funds from Iran. But Hamas’s refusal to support Iran in Syria dissolved this relationship. Since then, Qatar and Turkey have replaced Iran as Hamas’s sponsor. This had Iran searching for a Palestinian replacement in its proxy war from the Gaza Strip. Enter Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

While it is unlikely that the pij will overthrow Hamas, the fact that pij is now initiating terrorist attacks on Israel is evidence of the broken relationship between Hamas and Iran.

Relations between Hamas and Iran are prophesied to break down even further. To understand, read “A Mysterious Prophecy.”