Battle of Rafah (2009) | |||||||||
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Part of the Salafi jihadist insurgency in the Gaza Strip | |||||||||
Location of Rafah in the Gaza Strip | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Islamic Emirate of Rafah | Hamas | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Abdel Latif Moussa † Abu Abdullah al-Suri † | Khaled Mashal Ismail Haniyeh Abu Jibril Shimali † | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Jund Ansar Allah | |||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
100+ militants | Unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
15 militants killed 40 militants arrested | 6 police officers killed [1] | ||||||||
5 Palestinian civilians killed 150 Palestinian civilians wounded |
The Battle of Rafah (2009) took place between Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah in the Rafah Governorate of the Gaza Strip. [2] Fighting between the two Palestinian militant organizations broke out on 14 August 2009, when Jund Ansar Allah's founder Abdel Latif Moussa denounced the Hamas government for supposedly failing to enforce Islamic law and for "not being any different from a secular government" since it ousted Fatah during the Battle of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. He subsequently proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Rafah and swore allegiance to al-Qaeda. In total, 26 people were killed and 150 were wounded during the conflict, including an 11-year-old Palestinian girl. [3] Moussa was killed in Rafah on 15 August 2009, triggering the collapse of Jund Ansar Allah and the Islamic Emirate of Rafah.
A day before the Hamas raid, Jund Ansar Allah leader, Abdel Latif Moussa, declared the Islamic Emirate of Rafah, and swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda. About 100 of his fighters were seen in a video where he pledged allegiance in his base, a mosque in Rafah. The next day, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked the Mosque and other bases of the group in Rafah. The fighting lasted 7 hours. It was reported that when Hamas reached the positions of Moussa and Jund Ansar Allah's military commander, Abu Abdullah al Suri, they detonated themselves. About 15 Jund Ansar Allah fighters were killed, 40 were captured, 5 civilians were killed. Al-Qassam brigades commander Abu Jibril Shimali, was also killed during the battle. The group was virtually destroyed after the fighting, having both of its leaders killed, and its bases captured. It was reported that Hamas later released some of the captured. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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Jund Ansar Allah was an armed Palestinian Salafi-jihadist organization operating in the Gaza Strip. It was founded in November 2008 by Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa. On 14 August 2009, Moussa announced the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The group criticized the ruling power, Hamas, for failing to enforce Sharia law. In response, Hamas attacked the organization, resulting in 24 people killed and a further 150 wounded. After the battle, Jund Ansar Allah ceased to exist.
Abdel Latif Moussa, also known as Abu Noor al-Maqdisi, was the leader of the Salafist Jihadist group Jund Ansar Allah, an Islamist group in Rafah, Gaza Strip. On 14 August 2009, he proclaimed an "Islamic Emirate" in the Palestinian Territories and was killed the following day 15 August, when Hamas forces stormed his headquarters and residence.
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