ISIS supporters were shot dead in Gaza Tuesday, June 2, in their first firefight with Hamas forces come to arrest them The Islamists had planted a bomb trap in their hideout. The showdown occurred 48 hours after the Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia, renamed “Supporters of the Islamic State of Jerusalem,” gave Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum to end its crackdown on the group and release dozens of Islamists held for a series of attacks. DEBKAfile: ISIS fighters were spotted for the first time this week on the Gazan-Israeli border. They have threatened to target Eilat Port.
DEBKAfile first reported Monday, June 1, on the appearance of ISIS on the Israeli border with details.
Followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were spotted for the first time in the Gaza Strip this week, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. Their arrival on Israel’s border was confirmed as a division-strength IDF force launched its large-scale “Turning Point 2015” exercise for repelling Islamist cross-border incursions. The Islamist group which has established a substantial anti-Hamas presence in the Gaza Strip is Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia, renamed “Supporters of the Islamic State of Jerusalem.”
Israeli, Egyptian and Hamas’ military sources are all concerned to make light of this development. When asked, they say that the group’s nature and scope have not yet been evaluated. Western and Middle East governments took the same tack two years ago, when ISIS first embarked on its calamitous course in Syria.
DEBKAfile’s military sources point to eight signs of the ISIS presence in the Gaza Strip:
