Jund Ansar Allah
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Jund Ansar Allah ( ar, جند أنصار الله, rtl=yes, ) was an armed Islamist organization operating in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. It was founded in November 2008. On 14 August 2009, the group's spiritual leader, Sheikh
Abdel Latif Moussa Abdel Latif Moussa, (Arabic: عبد اللطيف موسى) also known as Abu Noor al-Maqdisi (Arabic: أبو نور المقدسي), (born ? – 15 August 2009) was the leader of the Salafist Jihadist group Jund Ansar Allah (Arabic: جند أ ...
, announced the establishment of an
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
inspired
Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...
in the
Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
and criticized the ruling power,
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
, for failing to enforce
Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
law. In response, Hamas attacked the organization, resulting in 24 people being killed, including Moussa, and Jund Ansar Allah ceased to exist.


Background

Jund Ansar Allah was established in November 2008 by Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa, who had headed a Salafi organization in Gaza since the 1980s, and Khalid Banat (Abu Abdullah Suri), who claimed to have fought with leading al Qaeda figures including Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Jund Ansar Allah was an
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
inspired organization ideologically affiliated with the movement for global
jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
. Moussa, an "Egyptian-educated physician-turned-cleric," was the group's spiritual leader. He left his medical practice in
Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...
to become one of the most influential preachers in the southern Gaza Strip. In his
Friday sermon In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day accordin ...
s that attracted thousands of young men, Moussa argued that Hamas had failed to properly institute Sharia law and had become too lenient. Hamas repeatedly warned Moussa and his followers to abandon his mosque in Rafah. Jund Ansar Allah remained relatively unknown until 8 June 2009 when it launched a military operation against an
IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...
force near the
Nahal Oz border crossing Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...
in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF successfully foiled the attack, which incorporated the use of horses booby-trapped with IEDs and explosives. Five Jund Ansar Allah operatives died in the operation. The organization also clashed with Hamas. On 22 July 2009, three Jund Ansar Allah militants holed up in a building in
Khan Younis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142 ...
surrendered in a standoff with Hamas police.


Armed activities

On 8 June 2009 the group carried out a raid on the Karni border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Ten individuals from the group rode into battle on horses laden with large quantities of explosives, with at least three of them being shot dead by Israeli troops. Israeli officials said several of the men had been wearing explosive belts, and suspected they had been attempting to kidnap a soldier.Profile: Jund Ansar Allah
BBC News 15-08-2009
Hamas officials also blamed the group for the bombings of several internet cafes, seen as a source of immorality, and of a wedding party attended by relatives of the West Bank-based
Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
leader,
Muhammad Dahlan Mohammad Yusuf Dahlan ( ar, محمد دحلان) born on September 29, 1961 in Khan Yunis Camp, Khan Yunis Refugee Camp, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Fadi () is a Palestinians, Palestinian Politics of the P ...
, in which fifty people were injured. Jund Ansar Allah denied any responsibility for the latter attack, and Fatah leaders blamed Hamas. In August 2009, a senior Hamas official told
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
that Jund Ansar Allah received its weapons from former Fatah policemen and security officials in the southern Gaza Strip and that the aim of its attacks were to "defame" Hamas.


Declaration of an Islamic emirate

On Friday, 14 August 2009, Moussa unexpectedly declared the creation of an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip before 100 of his armed followers at the Ibn-Taymiyah mosque in Rafah.Hamas says Gaza now under control
BBC News 15-08-2009
During his sermon, Moussa condemned Hamas for failing to implement Sharia law and acting like a "secular government." Regarding the sermon as a challenge to its rule over the Gaza Strip, Hamas forces surrounded the mosque and demanded those inside surrender. Exchanges of gunfire erupted into a seven-hour battle in which Hamas fighters sealed off the entire neighborhood and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the mosque. During the firefight, 24 Palestinians were killed and more than 130 injured. The dead included twelve Jund Ansar Allah members, six Hamas members and six non-combatants, including three young children aged 8, 10 and 13. An Egyptian security official said a three-year-old boy across the border with
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
was critically wounded by a bullet from the fighting. Moussa killed himself and a Hamas fighter by detonating an explosive belt strapped around his waist after being trapped in his house. The house was dynamited by Hamas forces.Mai Yaghi
Gaza clashes between Hamas, Islamist radicals kill 13
AFP 14-08-2009
Abu-Jibril Shimali, head of Hamas'
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB
in the southern Gaza Strip, died in the fighting. Israel believes that Shimali orchestrated the abduction of Israeli soldier
Gilad Shalit Gilad Shalit ( he-a, גלעד שליט, Shalit.ogg, ''Gilˁad Šaliṭ'', born 28 August 1986) is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tu ...
in a June 2006 cross-border raid. Hamas did not permit media coverage of the event, barring journalists from entering Rafah or interviewing the wounded. Following the clashes, a number of al-Qaida-affiliated groups condemned Hamas as an apostate movement that committed "massacre" and charged Hamas's actions to "serve the interest of the Jewish usurpers of Palestine and the Christians who are fighting Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Somalia".Gaza's radical Islamists: Hamas serves the Jewish usurpers
JPost, August 20, 2009
Websites associated with Fatah later released cellphone footage of what appeared to be Hamas executing Jund Ansar Allah fighters during the clash. The video showed black-clad Hamas militants gathering several men from the rebel group in a mosque courtyard, and then mowing them down in a fierce burst of gunfire. Some of the Jund Ansar Allah men were shown lying motionless and bleeding on the ground. In two scenes, Hamas militants appeared to be shooting captives execution-style at close range, and bodies were seen falling to the ground. In another scene, a group of Jund Ansar Allah captives were seen standing motionless against a wall a few meters away. Israeli television Channel 10 also broadcast a recording of what it said was the Hamas military communication channel, ordering Hamas forces to execute everyone. There was no immediate comment from Hamas officials. However, Hamas had previously denied that an execution took place at the site, or that members of Jund Ansar Allah were "massacred."Avi Issacharoff

Haaretz 26-08-2009
Following the battle, Jund Ansar Allah vowed to attack Hamas security compounds and mosques in retaliation. On 29 August, bombs exploded inside a security compound and near a mosque in Gaza City, according to security officials. Nobody was injured in the attacks. Jund Ansar al-Jihad wal Sunna, a previously unknown Islamist group, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hamas security headquarters, declaring: "We urge our jihadist brothers to join forces to conduct painful joint attacks against those miscreant apostates amasand end their reign." The Associated Press said that "the two explosions appear dto be revenge attacks against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers," and suggested a link with Jund Ansar Allah.Rizek Abdul Jawad
2 bombs explode in Gaza compound, outside mosque
Associated Press 29-08-2009


Ideology

A message issued on the group's website and jihadist forums on the day of the clash with Hamas stated:
"The soldiers of
Tawhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam ( Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single ...
(monotheism) will not rest ... until the entirety of Muslim lands are liberated and until our imprisoned Aqsa (mosque) is purified from the desecration of the accursed
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
".


See also

*
Army of Islam (Gaza Strip) Army of Islam ( ar, جَيش الإسلام ''Jaysh al-Islām''), officially The Army of Islam Group in Jerusalem (''Jama'at Jaysh al-Islam fi Bayt al-Maqdis''), is a Salafi Jihadist militant organization in the Gaza Strip. It was founded by t ...
*
Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin ) , native_name_lang=ar , war=the Gaza–Israel conflict andthe Global War on Terrorism , image= , caption=The Shahada flag commonly used by al-Qaeda. , active=6 November 2008 – present , ideology= Salafist jihadism Wahhabism , groups= , area of ...


References


External links


Profile: Jund Ansar Allah
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

FACTBOX-Five facts about Jund Ansar Allah
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

Who was Abu Noor al-Maqdisi?
(''
Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted f ...
'') {{Militant Islamism in the Middle East Islamist groups Jihadist groups Defunct Palestinian militant groups Gaza Strip 2008 establishments in the Palestinian territories Organizations established in 2008