TEL AVIV – Islamic Jihad has made headway in fundraising in Algeria and Turkey, sources in the group told Breitbart Jerusalem, after Iran, the organization’s main source of revenue, pulled the plug.
Top Islamic Jihad official Mohammed al-Hindi met with pro-Palestinian members of the Algerian civil society and the private sector there and was allegedly able to raise significant funds, although still short of the original target.
“The sums at hand are rather limited and not big,” an Islamic Jihad source admitted, explaining that similar funds were raised in Turkey.
Islamic Jihad leaders have had to deal with growing disquiet among members, who bear the brunt of the movement’s financial distress.
Iran delivered the movement a near-deathblow recently when it announced that it endorsed a splinter group named Al-Sabireen at its expense, making the new Iran-backed terrorist group one of the richest militias in the Gaza Strip.
Dahoud Shihab, an Islamic Jihad spokesperson, claimed to Breitbart Jerusalem that the report of fundraising is “totally wrong” and “inaccurate.”
Last month, Breitbart Jerusalem conducted an exclusive interview with Mahmoud Abu Alnada, a top Al Sabireen commander and former Islamic Jihad militant.
Inspired by Hezbollah, the most influential Shi’ite group in the region – which is funded by Iran – Al-Sabireen has won many hearts and minds among radical Gazans and is widely considered the next standard bearer in the so-called armed struggle against Israel. The group reportedly broke away from the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad.
Spokesmen for Al-Sabireen deny any affiliation with Shi’ite ideology, though they clearly ally themselves with Iran’s ideological and political stance, and the group’s symbols are similar to those of Hezbollah.
Gaza is dominated by Sunni Islam, although numerous Sunni terrorist groups are financially backed by Iran.
Last month, Al-Sabireen took responsibility for an attempted roadside bombing of an Israel Defense Forces patrol along the Gaza border.
In October, Israel reportedly eliminated an Al-Sabireen commander, Ahmed Sharif Al-Sarhi, blaming him for numerous cross-border shooting attacks.
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