The IDF has acquired intelligence that Hamas is providing weaponry and other support to the Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate, Wilayat Sinai (Province of Sinai) — the group thought to be behind yesterday’s deadly attack on Egyptian security services.
IDF coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major-General Yoav Mordechai in a photo from July 2013. (screen capture: YouTube/IDFSpox1)
Yoav Mordechai, head of COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, tells Al-Jazeera that along with military support, Hamas is also providing medical support to injured IS operatives. He says that a high-ranking officer in Hamas’s military wing, named as Wa’al Faraj, smuggled injured Islamic State fighters into the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.
Another top Hamas commander involved in training Hamas fighters, Abdullah Kishta, has been lending his expertise to Islamic State jihadists in Sinai as well, Mordechai says, adding that the IDF has “proof” of these direct ties.
Wilayat Sinai was previously known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis before it pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State.
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