Islamic Jihad Wants a Fight with Israel. Hamas Does Not https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2019/11/islamic-jihad-wants-a-fight-with-israel-hamas-does-not/

November 14, 2019 | Hillel Frisch
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Since Tuesday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which rules Gaza, seems to have avoided joining in, adhering to the strategy of low-level conflict it has pursued since autumn 2014. To Hillel Frisch, the current round highlights the differences between the two terrorist groups:

While Hamas views the use of violence as a means for increasing the volume of trade with Israel and securing the inflow of Qatari money, both of which enhance the welfare of its hardcore supporters and of the Gaza population at large, Islamic Jihad seeks full-fledged confrontation as part of an Iranian strategy to deflect attention from its Syrian military buildup and regional expansion.

These strategic goals reflect the differences in the political and organizational makeup of the two terror groups. A Sunni organization with popular support that is clearly identified with the wider Muslim Brotherhood movement, Hamas operates like fish in water in a society that is almost exclusively Sunni, with most of its members being truly devout. If there are any Gazan Shiites, they keep their beliefs and practices strictly to themselves.

There is a world of difference . . . between Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which is known for its strong links to Iran and which has no popular base. Though they value PIJ for its sacrifices, most Gazans suspect its members of being Shiites in disguise. A form of love-hate relationship thus prevails between the general population and PIJ, a disposition that has become more pronounced as the conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have intensified.

[But] Islamic Jihad’s paltry popular base means its dependence on Iran is all the greater. For [one thing], the organization can operate purely as a fighting arm without the need to take into account the welfare of the Gaza population. [Moreover], Hamas cannot afford to bring an immediate end to the rockets. [It] can only constrain, rather than stop, PIJ because it needs Iran as well.

Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/gaza-hamas-islamic-jihad/