Salafists linked with the Islamic State (ISIS) blew up six Hamas and Islamic Jihad vehicles in simultaneous attacks in Gaza City, Sunday morning.

At least two people were wounded.

The ability to stage a coordinated attack in the Hamas stronghold reflects both the capabilities of the jihadists as well as the growing vulnerability of Hamas, whose regime has brought misery, depression and war to the local population.

An ISIS poster was found near one of the vehicles that as exploded.

Israel’s Reshet Bet (Voice of Israel) suggested that terrorists may have used the ISIS poster to frame the Islamists for attacks, which could have been carried out only with highly organized support.

The fact that there were not many injuries offers a hint that it might have been Palestinian Authority Fatah terrorists who staged the rare attack with the intent of scaring Hamas but without causing an immediate upheaval.

So much for the “unity” that President Obama so highly applauded earlier this year.

Hamas has face difficulties with Egypt too, which accuses them of helping the ISIS terrorists in Sinai.

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal won a rare audience last week with Saudi Arabia king Salman, the first time in four years that a Saudi king has publicly confirmed discussions with the Gaza regime.

Terrorists from Da’esh (ISIS) have come up with a new way to pump up enthusiasm in the ranks.

A Qur’an (Koran) Contest offers a “beautiful young girl” to tempt group members to compete for the top three grand prizes, “or at least a few hundred dollars” to be awarded as seven consolation prizes.

The beautiful young girls and teenagers are prisoners that are being held as sex slaves by Islamic State.

This Qur’an Competition for Ramadan 1436 / 2015 to Ramadan 1437 / 2016, held to “inspire” ISIS fighters, offers a “beautiful young girl” as the Grand Prize for the top winner.

The contest, which began last week on the first day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, ends on the 20th of Ramadan. The announcement of the winners will be on the 21st of Ramadan, while the awards will be distributed on the night of Eid al-Fitr.

The notice about the contest, which according to the Hebrew-language PZM website was posted on Twitter, read as follows:

‘Soldiers of the Islamic State, Commanders and Troops, Greetings and salutations upon the advent of Ramadan, May it be the will of Allah to accept our fasts and prayers May Allah protect us all from the fires of hell.

Da’wa institutions and mosques hereby declare the opening of the Qur’an memorization competition, To include the following traditions (chapters):

Surat Al-Anfal (Surah prey), (Surah a-Ta’uvah) Surat Muhmad, and Surat Patikha (Surat opening). The competition will be held from 1 Ramadan 1436 to 21 Ramadan 1437.

Those who wish to participate may register at the following mosques: Mosque of Abu Bakr, Mosque of Osama Bin Laden, Mosque of Abu Musab a-Zarqawi (senior Al Qaeda official, the founder of ISIS assassinated in Iraq in 2006), and the Al Taqwa Mosque.

Allah willing, winners will be chosen between 21 Ramadan 1436 and 27 Ramadan 1437.

Competition Prizes:
Grand Prize Winner: ‘Sabia’ (a young girl)
Second Prize: Teenage girl
Third Prize: Teenage girl
Fourth place: 100,000 Syrian pounds ($530)
Fifth place: 90,000 Syrian pounds ($477)
Sixth place: 80,000 Syrian pounds ($424)
Seventh place: 70,000 Syrian pounds ($370)
Eighth place: 60,000 Syrian pounds ($317)
Ninth place: 50,000 Syrian pounds ($265)
Tenth place: 50,000 Syrian pounds ($265)

We ask Allah the Great to ease and help you on your way in serving Him as He desires.
Da’wa Institutions and Mosques

Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, has issued a length report to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that calls for withdrawing recognition of Israel unless Jerusalem recognizes the PA.

The Ma’an News Agency, based n Bethlehem and with close ties to the Palestinian Authority, reported Thursday:

In a report entitled ‘Determining Palestinian-Israeli relations: Changing, not merely improving, the situation’ the PLO official recommends that the Palestinian leadership consider retracting its recognition of Israel until the Israeli government issues a reciprocal recognition of a Palestinian state.

As seen in the video below, Yasser Arafat in 1988 explicitly said at a Stockholm press conference:

We accept two states, the Palestine state and the Jewish state of Israel.’

The declaration helped succeed in advancing the “peace process” by which the PLO,  which is the superior body to what now is the Palestinian Authority, wrangled hundreds of concessions from Israel without any compromise on its part.

Arafat’s declaration fell short of satisfying American demands that it recognize Israel’s right to exist under U.N. resolutions 242 and 348 that were the basis for a negotiated peace agreement that never happened.

Arafat also renounced terrorism.

Then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres recognized Arafat’s remarks for what they were and called them a ”cunning exercise in public relations” while lacking “a commitment in reality.”

Plenty of blood has been spilled since then, as is well-known by relatives of thousands of victims of Palestinian Authority terror.

Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Arafat after his death, brilliantly brought the Palestinian Authority to the brink of achieving its stated aim, but he has refused to recognize Israel as a “Jewish” state because doing so would make it almost impossible to force Israel into accepting millions of foreign Arabs into the country, leaving Jews as a minority.

Erekat now has gone even further with his report that urges the PLO not to recognize Israel at all, Jewish or not, unless the same recognition is given to the Ramallah regime.

The chief negotiator went off the face of the Earth and said, according to Ma’an:

Efforts [should] be made for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the PLO’s Executive Committee and [he] urged the PLO and Palestinian factions to support popular resistance and the boycott of Israeli settlement products.

The PLO official also recommended that the Palestinian leadership play a better role in assisting the Palestinian diaspora in Lebanon and Syria.

At first glance, it seems that Erekat has lost his marbles.

He knows very wall that Israel will not recognize the Palestinian Authority because doing so would be an implicit agreement to turn over the country to Ramallah.

Erekat knows very well that inviting Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO executive would rip the cover off the Palestinian Authority as sponsor of terror.

He probably does not understand that the Boycott Israel movement has reached its peak and is going the way of the Palestinian Authority, a moribund entity.

So what could be going in his mind?

Considering the mayhem in the Palestinian Authority government, which this week dissolve or did not dissolve depending on which official  was the last to speak, Erekat could be jockeying to replace Abbas, who is 80 years old and in the eight year of a four-year term to which he was elected.

Erekat fits the bill to take over the reins because the ambition of any Palestinian Authority leader is exactly the opposite of what the world thinks it wants.

Neither Abbas nor Erekat want to see it become a state because it would collapse like a house of cards, all of which are jokers.

Below is Arafat’s declaration in 1988.

Islamic State (ISIS) supporters have claimed responsibility for the Grad rocket attack north of Be’er Sheva last week and have issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Hamas to halt its crackdown against them.

The Islamic Jihad originally said it was behind the missile attack, the first beyond the Gaza Belt area since the war against Hamas last summer.

It is not known if the ISIS cells in Gaza are directly linked to the parent organization, but the fact that they have claimed responsibility for the rocket attack indicates they are active are staging a propaganda campaign to attract more recruits.

They have not said what they will do if Hamas does not “withdraw the attacks” against them” in two days, but Hamas clearly is worried.

It has set up checkpoints within Gaza City the past month following several explosions that have been attributed to ISIS cells.

Jihadists blame Hamas for being “soft” on Israel and for not imposing Islamic law on Gaza.

Hamas finally has found an enemy it fears. The terrorist organization always has been able to draw Israel into wars and then escape with its life. No matter how much damage Israel causes to its infrastructure, Hamas always springs back to life.

Its corruption has kept civilians at their mercy, creating exactly the conditions that make an organization like ISIS even more appealing than Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups that simply are a re-make of Hamas.

The Islamic State is different. It operates out of fear, and anyone who does not have the will to fight back becomes its slave. Whoever does fight back has to be willing to be beheaded.

There is nothing more that ISIS would like than to behead an Israeli, and an Arab probably would be preferred in order to scare other Arabs into fighting Israel.

Egypt has banished Hamas, but one Israel security official told a Births newspaper that the presence of the ISIS in Gaza may force Cairo, as well as Israel, to carry out back-door cooperation with Hamas to squash ISIS.

9:43 PM Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon is currently moving patients to the bomb shelters, just to be safe.

9:37 PM The army has officially confirmed one rocket hit in Gan Yavne.

Islamic Jihad has taken credit for the launch, and it was the result of internal fighting within that terror group in northern Gaza.

9:17 PM 5 rockets were launched in the direction of Ashkelon and Ashdod from Gaza.
4 hits, the location of the 5th rocket is still unknown. It might have fallen short and landed in Gaza.
No injuries have been reported.

9:13 PM At this point it appears that 4 rockets were launched at Israel. No official confirmation yet.

9:10 PM Sirens heard around Gaza border, Ashkelon and Ashdod.
Citizens reporting hearing explosions.

9:07 PM Channel 2 is reporting a system error. Some citizens in the area are reporting hearing Iron Dome interceptions overhead.

9:03 PM The rocket alert sirens are going off like crazy in the Lachish area.
No information yet if this is a test, error, false alarm or real.

This is the Tale of Two Cities: Old Rafah, and New Rafah – that is, the Egyptian half of the Gaza city that currently straddles the border with Egypt, and the one soon to be on the drawing boards of /Egyptian engineers.

North Sinai District Governor Abd al-Fattah Harour told journalists at a news briefing Wednesday that Egypt has decided to raze Rafah to the ground – at least, the part that exists on Egypt’s side of the border.

“A new Rafah city is being established with residential zones appropriate to the nature and traditions of the residents of Rafah,” Harour said, according to the Ma’an news agency.

He confirmed that engineering units have already been authorized to begin work on the project.

Egypt is currently evacuating some 2,044 families from 1,220 homes located on a stretch of land along the border with Gaza. The families are to be compensated for the loss of their homes and also will receive additional funds with which to rent new accommodations until they can find new places to live.

The evacuation is being carried out in preparation for creation of a wider buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza. Original plans a year ago called for a buffer of 500 meters; the current buffer zone is to measure at least a kilometer wide.

However, this latest development has come about because the existence of the city of Rafah still constitutes a military weak point for Egypt vis a vis Gaza and Hamas, as it does for Israel.

Rafah is also the sole international crossing which is not under Israel’s control and which remains vulnerable to seizure by international terrorists. (In Jordan, the sole crossing with Iraq was shut down last year after the Iraq side was seized by terrorists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). European monitors in Rafah who were supposed to remain at the site to “keep the peace” and maintain its neutrality abandoned their posts at the first sign of danger years ago.

On January 23, 2008 Hamas blew a hole in the security barrier built in 2003 near the Rafah crossing, destroying a significant part of the wall. The United Nations estimated that as many as 750,000 Gazans flooded through that hole into Egypt from that day forward until the breach was repaired, 11 days later. Many came to shop for food and supplies, but several thousand were also wanted terrorists; Israel Police raised the alert in the Jewish State knowing it was likely these “shoppers” were also purchasing “supplies.”

Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization was spawned by Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization. The group has sparked endless anti-government attacks in Egypt, and developed alliances with other groups, leading to further problems.

During the recent brief reign of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s predecessor, Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist-majority parliament, Sinai became saturated with radical Islamist terrorists.

Terror groups such as the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which recently swore allegiance to ISIS, grew there exponentially. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda-linked Army of Islam Salafis also planted bases in Sinai as well.

In particular, Hamas honeycombed the area under the border in Rafah with tunnels which they used for smuggling military supplies and luxury items into Gaza – and terrorists out, in to Sinai and elsewhere.

It is this activity the Cairo government is determined to end. Egypt’s security personnel have destroyed hundreds of terrorist tunnels over the past 18 months, but they are often rebuilt when Hamas obtains new supplies.

As international aid organizations bring concrete and other building materials into the enclave to “help” the poverty stricken Palestinian Authority residents rebuild their homes, Hamas confiscates the items to reconstruct their terror tunnel network. It’s an expensive project: each tunnel costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to build.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the Jewish rights activist who was shot multiple times at point blank range just a few weeks ago, received a human rights award on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Glick received the award from the Israeli Zionist organization Im Tirtzu at the Second Zionist Conference.

Glick was shot on Oct. 29 by Islamic Jihad member Motaz Hejazi after leaving a meeting at which the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount was discussed. Glick was shot right outside of the Menachem Begin Center in Jerusalem, where the meeting had taken place.

Hejazi walked up to Glick, asked him to identify himself, shot Glick repeatedly, then took off on a motorbike. Hejazi was employed at the restaurant in the Begin Center, despite having been imprisoned in Israel for 11 years for terrorism offenses.

Hejazi was later killed in a shootout with police at his home in Abu Tor, a mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Glick’s recovery is considered by many to be a miracle, and his attendance at a public function a mere six weeks after such a brush with death even more so.