AL QAEDA GROWING IN GAZA

Al-Qaeda Looming Large in Gaza - Karin Laub
Al-Qaeda is looming increasingly large in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Palestinian intelligence officials believe al-Qaeda has formed some sleeper cells in Gaza and suspect possible al-Qaeda involvement in several spectacular attacks on Palestinian security chiefs since 2004. As early as 2003, an Israeli military court sentenced a Gaza man to 27 years in prison on charges he was recruited by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to form a network in the Palestinian territories. Still, quiet cooperation between some Gaza militants and al-Qaeda is increasingly possible. Smuggling tunnels run under the Gaza-Egypt border, and al-Zawahri specifically called on Bedouins in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula - implicated in three major attacks since 2004 and heavily involved in smuggling - to help Hamas. (Houston Chron)

See also The Growing Al-Qaeda Presence in the Hamas-Controlled Gaza Strip - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi (JCPA)

See also White House Hopes Hamas Does Not Offer Al-Qaeda Refuge
The U.S. on Monday said it hoped Hamas would not offer al-Qaeda refuge in Gaza after bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri voiced backing for Hamas. "We certainly hope that Hamas does not encourage nor allow al-Qaeda operatives to use the Gaza Strip as a safe haven. That would do nothing for the Palestinian people," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in Washington. (AFP/Yahoo)