It seems that al-Qaida is like that rash that just won't go away, and it keeps spreading to places you wish it wouldn't go. Their next stop? The Gaza Strip.
Signs are mounting that al-Qaida terrorists are setting their sights on Israel and the Palestinian territories as their next jihad battleground.
Israel has indicted two West Bank militants for al-Qaida membership, Egypt arrested operatives trying to cross into Israel and a Palestinian security official has acknowledged al-Qaida is "organizing cells and gathering supporters."
This could get pretty interesting, considering the U.S. wants to go wherever al-Qaida goes. Will Sharon just allow us to waltz into Israel? Will we even bother to ask? That's always a possibility, too; we could just consider ourselves good enough friends with Sharon, so we just march into Israel unannounced.
Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon have established contacts with al-Qaida followers linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, according to two Israeli officials.
Al-Zarqawi has established footholds in the countries neighboring Israel--Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan--and is interested in bringing his fight to Israel, too, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because Israel does not want to identify those involved in the issue.
Mideast watchers warned against overstating the al-Qaida presence because the issue is easily manipulated for political ends.
Israel has a lot to gain by portraying its local conflict with the Palestinians as part of the global war on terror, and Abbas, badly damaged by the recent political rise of Hamas militants, wants "to show that he is needed by the West," said Israeli security analyst Dan Schueftan.
Both Israeli and Palestinian security officials described al-Qaida's activities here as incipient, involving a handful of local militants who reached out to al-Qaida--often via the Internet--rather than the other way around. A senior Israeli military intelligence official said he believed there were no more than 20 al-Qaida-linked activists in the Palestinian territories.
Most of them are unhappy with a year-old decision by mainstream Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, to enforce a cease-fire with Israel, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
Things are heating up again in the Gaza, folks. Grab a bag of popcorn and turn on the news because Washington can't help but stick their nose into this business.
--la vie en rose (Blogger won't allow me to post as myself--damn pinko, commie bastards!)
Tags: [al-Qaida], [al-Qaida in Gaza], [Gaza Strip], [Israel], [Palestine], [Washington DC], [Bush will take notice], [global war on terror], [everything will hit the fan soon]
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