Investigators discover the Nujaba terror group has joined other Iran-backed cells operating in Gaza.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
Iran’s sponsorship of terror in Gaza goes beyond just arms and money for the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said Wednesday.
While Iran’s support for rocket and suicide attacks on Israel is well known, the ayatollahs also have their fingers on so-called “Islamic charities” that ostensibly help Gazans, impoverished by 14 years of Hamas rule, which has left Gaza broke and with more than half the population unemployed.
Investigators found the Nujaba Movement, an Iraqi Shiite militia that operates under Iranian sponsorship, is now functioning in Gaza. Founded in 2013 with close ties to Iran, the group has participated in fighting American troops stationed in Iraq and is active in Syria fighting to help keep Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in power.
Nujaba is handled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, and Nujaba leader Akram Al-Ka’abi has close ties to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
At the beginning of May, Nujaba’s office in Iran reported that the movement had recently distributed aid to Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip via its office there. Food packages and gifts for the month of Ramadan were distributed to families in the Shejaiyah neighborhood, which was the scene of heavy fighting in the 2014 war started by Hamas, and in the northern Gaza Strip.
Experts at Meir Amit Center say Iran works its way into Palestinian society by providing assistance to the social networks supporting the families of “martyrs” – Palestinians killed committing violent crimes targeting Israelis – and families of convicted terrorists serving sentences in Israeli jails.
Tehran considers these groups an important means to encourage Iranian-backed terrorism against Israel. The Nujaba Movement distributes money in order to increase Iranian political influence in the Gaza Strip and demonstrate to the Palestinians and the Arab world that Iran also assists the Palestinians.
The Meir Amit Center identified two other charities that get Iranian funding. One of these oranizations is affiliated with the Hezbollah terror group and the other has ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which carried out bloody suicide bombings in Israel and joins Hamas in firing rockets at Israeli towns and cities.