In the Hobbessian – "the war of all against all" – inferno called Gaza, ISIS is alive and well. Over the past decade, it has become clear that Hamas is not the only terrorist organization operating in the Gaza Strip, which has become a base for dozens of jihadi groups, some linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. According the Gatestone Institute, a New York based think tank, even more disconcerting is the possibility that Hamas may be losing control of the dozen terror cells in Gaza.
Israeli intelligence services and the PA are concerned that ISIS is not only operating publicly in the strip but also responsible for some of the missile attacks. Over the past few weeks, according Voactive, two Salafists groups have pledged allegiance to ISIS and took credit for rocket fire into Israel. The group formerly known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis changed its name to Al Dalwa Al-Islamia—which translates to “The Islamic State.” They posted a video on You Tube showing the firing of a battery of rockets at the Israeli town of Bnei Netzarim. Moreover, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported recently that Cairo's security forces had arrested 15 ISIS terrorists who infiltrated into the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza to carry out terrorist attacks against civilian targets through Egypt. The smuggling tunnels that used to link the Gaza Strip with Egypt (most have been destroyed by the Egyptian army over the past year) have facilitated the movement of thousands of Islamist terrorists in both directions.
ISIS has shown the world that it is capable of waging war without limits, borders and mercy. It is precisely in this context that its seizure of nuclear materials and compounds in Mosul that can be used in manufacturing of WMD is extremely disconcerting. Although the uranium in question has been classified by the IAEC as "low garde," the mere fact that they were actively looking for such substances is indicative of their intentions. Indeed, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commander of Britain's chemical weapons regiment, while conceding that the stolen material was not suitable for the manufacture of a "viable nuclear device," cautioned that the material could be incorporated into a rudimentary homemade "dirty bomb." Moreover, Iraq's UN Ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim informed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that 88 pounds of stolen uranium compounds could be " used in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction." Ineffective as "low grade" uranium based explosive devices may be in terms of causing mass civilian casualties in Tel Aviv, the mere detonation of such a bomb, would have a profoundly traumatic effect on Israel. Faced with the theoretical and largely psychological threat of mass obliteration, the response of Israeli leaders would be difficult to predict.
Not surprisingly, ISIS, demonstrating both intention and capability, started to use non- uranium based chemical weapons, acquired from other research facilities in the city of Mosul, on Kurdish fighters.
Kobane Canton Health Minister Dr. Na'san Ahmed in Kurdish Northern Syria recently presented graphic evidence that ISIS has used some sort of chemical weapon instantly killing Kurdish fighters during clashes. During a telephone interview with the Kurdish Times, Dr. Na’san Ahmed stated that seven local doctors carried out post-mortem examinations on the bodies of two Kurdish YPG fighters recently killed by ISIS and that they found traces indicating “they were killed by ISIS using chemical weapon.”
Dr. Ahmed said: “We do not have the high-tech medical equipment to determine the exact type of chemical weapon used by ISIS, but seven doctors are convinced that chemical weapon was used as the examinations found symptoms and strange white injuries on the bodies, all of which indicate that they were killed by some sorts of chemical agent.” The health minister urged the international medical institutions and human rights organizations to enter Kobane and promptly investigate the case, especially when the use of chemical weapons is not an isolated incident in Syria’s civil war.
The trajectory of terror in Gaza is clear: open the flood gates and the strip will be inundated with advanced missiles from Iran and North Korea. Indeed, Hamas has forged close military ties with North Korea encompassing the transfer of missile manufacturing know how and advanced tunnel building technologies: a Pyongyang specialty. Con Coughlin, the Defense Editor of the British Telegraph, recently reported that Hamas had already approached North Korea to replenish its dwindling rocket stockpiles with more advanced missiles capable of evading the Iron Dome anti missile system. The relationship between Hamas and North Korea is not new and came to light in 2009 when 35 tons of arms, including surface-to-surface rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, were seized after a cargo plane carrying the equipment was forced to make an emergency landing at Bangkok airport. "Investigators later confirmed, "wrote Coughlin, "that the arms cache has been destined for Iran, which then planned to smuggle the weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza."
The evidence is compelling: in March 5, 2014 the Israeli Navy seized an Iranian ship, Panamanian reregistered KLOS-C, in the Red Sea transporting M320 surface-to-surface missiles destined for Hamas which now demands a sea port, inter alia, as a precondition for ceasing rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. The weapons were flown from Damascus to Teheran, then shipped, according The Guardian, from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to the Iraqi port of Umm Qaser, disguised as cement bags. The plan called for transferring the missiles by land across Sudan, into the Sinai Peninsula before reaching Hamas in Gaza through a maze of tunnels.
The Hamas missiles that reached Haifa and Naharia in the North of Israel, in the current conflict, had the same payload and range characteristics of M320 missiles.
It ought to be abundantly clear to all those who are clamoring for the easing of controls over the importation of weapons into Gaza – as if " addressing" this issue would "resolve" the "underlying causes" of the conflict as opposed to exacerbating them – that any agreement that fails to disarm Hamas first will be bound to fail utterly. In fact, it will be merely a prelude to total calamity.
The Obama Administration appears to be under the impression that demilitarizing Gaza is a matter to be addressed "down the line" as part of a broad framework agreement. It is not. The PA has affixed its signature to two important agreements concerning the demilitarization of all Palestinian territories in exchange for Israeli territorial concessions in the context of the serial "land for peace" delusion.
Long before Israel withdrew unconditionally from Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat signed the Wye River Memorandum in 1998 whereby, in exchange of Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, the PA agreed to "outlawing and combating terrorist organizations and prohibiting illegal weapons. Moreover, it was agreed that "the Palestinian side would ensure an effective legal framework is in place to criminalize, in conformity with prior agreements, any importation, manufacturing or unlicensed sale, acquisition or possession of firearms, ammunition or weapons in areas under Palestinian jurisdiction."
Oslo II clearly stipulates that the " Palestinian police force established under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement will be fully integrated into the Palestinian Police and will be subject to the provisions of this Agreement. Except for the Palestinian Police and the Israeli military forces no other armed forces shall be established or operate in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
And where are we today?
We are at a point where we have to consider if ISIS in Gaza would soon be able to mount WMD compounds on advanced North Korean or Iranian missiles with the sole objective of rendering Israel the most dangerous place for Jews on earth.
Many find this impossible to believe.
But if we all fall through a rabbit hole and start thinking like the Red Queen in Alice, believing impossible things should not pose a problem!
"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
All we need, it seems, is love and practice!
