"We will uproot the state of the Jews and you and Fatah, and all of the secularists are nothing and you will be over-run by our creeping multitudes."
That quote comes from a video statement released by the Islamic State and addressed to the "tyrants of Hamas." In the eyes of IS, Hamas is too lenient on both religious dogma and Israel, as is Fatah, the rival faction operating under support from the United States.
"The rule of sharia will be implemented in Gaza, in spite of you," the video continues. "We swear that what is happening in the Levant today, and in particular the Yarmouk camp, will happen in Gaza."
The rivalry between Hamas and the Islamic State – both of which are deemed terrorist groups by the US, Israel, and the European Union – is complicated. While individuals sympathetic to the Islamic State living in Gaza have expressed strong disapproval for any leniency toward Tel Aviv, the Israeli government has also accused the two groups of working together.
"There is cooperation between them in the realm of weapons smuggling and terrorist attacks," Israel Katz, Israeli intelligence minister said during a conference. "At the same time, within Gaza, ISIS has been flouting Hamas. But they have a common cause against Jews, in Israel or abroad."
The new video statement could be indicative of a new boldness for the terrorist group. On Tuesday, Aimen Dean, a former al-Qaeda insider, told Reuters that he believed IS would soon be challenging al-Qaeda’s dominance in Yemen. The Islamic State has already organized attacks against Houthi rebels, taking advantage of the country’s chaos like it did in Syria, Iraq, and Libya.
Dean said that IS is "supplanting al-Qaeda and presenting themselves as the credible alternative."
On Monday, reports also surfaced that the Islamic State had gained a huge swath of land in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. Burning poppy fields in their march to control at least six districts, IS fighters wrested the territory away from the Taliban. The two terrorist groups continue to fight amongst each other as Afghan security forces stand on the sidelines.
Life under Islamic State rule is notoriously strict. In the Iraqi city of Mosul, captured last summer by the terrorist group, men are required to grow facial hair. Women are required to cover themselves completely, even being chastised for not wearing gloves. Shia mosques and shrines are blown up with heavy explosives.
This is the lifestyle the group would impose on residents of Gaza, as well.
