Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza, has recently conducted negotiations with the heads of smaller terror groups in Gaza with the purpose of incorporating them in the Hamas security establishment, according to the Voice of Palestine website which is associated with Fatah. The Army of Islam, which was Hamas's partner in abducting IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, has agreed to the offer.
Hamas made an offer in this spirit to the Islamic Jihad terror group, but the group turned it down. The Army of Islam group, however, consented to the offer, on condition that its leader – Mumtaz Dogmush – and three other senior members would receive military rank.
The Army of Islam is considered to be an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks in the US, and its leaders make no attempt to hide the ideological and organizational affinity between the two groups. In an interview to the Ilaf website in 2007, a person called Abu Ashur – who is Mumtaz Dogmush's right hand man – admitted that Al Qaeda funds the Army of Islam's activities and also gives it operational instructions. The Army of Islam “adopts the principles which Al Qaeda believes in” and strives for the establishment of an Islamic state in Gaza and the “liberation of Palestine,” he added.
Abu Ashur said that “the decision to abduct [British journalist] Alan Johnston was taken by Al Qaeda 'from outside' and the decision to release him was also delivered 'from outside' in order to avoid bloodshed.”
Relations between Hamas and the Army of Islam have known their ups and downs. There was a bout of violence between them on August 2, 2008. After several violent confrontations, the two terror groups established a mutual committee for solving disputes between them.