12-21-2017 How Islamic State holds Gaza hostage - Hamza Abu Eltarabesh The Electronic Intifada

https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-islamic-state-holds-gaza-hostage/22746

…The net effect means Sinai militants, many of whom have declared loyalty to the Islamic State, can hold two million Palestinians in Gaza hostage with its actions…Ashraf Issa, an officer in Gaza's Hamas-run internal security service, told The Electronic Intifada there are now 550 suspected Islamic State fighters in jail in Gaza.  But that in turn threatens some of Hamas' vital interests, not least supply lines through the Sinai, long used as a smuggling route for all kinds of goods and necessities, as well as weapons and munitions…Egypt – outside cooperation to quell the Sinai insurgency – has an interest in this, too. If done correctly, allowing travel through Rafah could boost Egypt's poorly performing economy by opening up a new market for Egyptian goods while providing a focus for the Sinai economy outside smuggling and tourism.  But spoilers lie everywhere, not least among the Islamic State - Sinai Province.

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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