Iran-backed group blames Israel for trying to kill leader in Gaza

Iranian-backed terror group Al-Sabireen popped up in the Gaza Strip about three years ago and has since posed a direct challenge to Hamas.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Updated: FEBRUARY 21, 2016 00:19
Thousand of Basij soldiers stage mock seige of Temple Mount in Iran (photo credit: FARS)
Thousand of Basij soldiers stage mock seige of Temple Mount in Iran
(photo credit: FARS)
The Iranian-backed Al-Sabireen over the weekend accused Israel of being behind an attempt on the life of the terrorist group’s secretary- general, Hisham Salem.
A powerful explosion targeted the home of Salem in Gaza City early on Friday, causing huge damage, the group said. No one was hurt.
Al-Sabireen (The Patient Ones), in a statement released shortly after the explosion, claimed that Israel and its “agents” were responsible for the assassination attempt against its leader.
The attack was designed to “strike at the mujahideen [holy warriors], sow the seeds of discord and deviate the resistance from its track,” it said.
“All signs prove that the Israeli occupation’s hand did it. The occupation has not spared any effort to target the secretary-general of Al-Sabireen and the leaders of the group,” the group claimed.
It pointed out that Israel had recently killed Ahmed al-Sarhi, a top commander of Al-Sabireen, who was shot dead by IDF soldiers near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The group said that the latest attack would not deter it from pursuing the “path of resistance. Our rifle will continue to be directed against the Israeli occupation.” It called on Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip to open an immediate investigation into the “cowardly attack” on the home of Salem.
Al-Sabireen popped up in the Gaza Strip about three years ago and has since posed a direct challenge to Hamas. The group consists mostly of disgruntled former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, who quit their groups to join the new Iranian-backed militia.
This was not the first attempt on the life of Salem. Last October, he claimed that he had been stabbed by an unidentified assailant after he gave a TV interview near the border with Israel. Hamas security forces have detained Salem and other Al-Sabireen members on a number of occasions in the past two years.


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