© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could unwittingly turn the Palestinian area into a sanctuary for al-Qaida, a new report states.

The Jerusalem-based Institute for Contemporary Affairs said al-Qaida could fill the vacuum left by the death of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and the departure of Israel from the Gaza Strip. The report envisioned the prospect of a Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip and its invitation to other Islamic insurgency groups, such as al-Qaida.

"The eventual takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas certainly cannot be ruled out, given the enormous political clout it already possesses and the relative decline of the Fatah movement in recent years," stated the report, authored by [Res.] Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, a former military intelligence chief.

"Even if the Hamas takeover is partial and Hamas only shares power with Fatah in Gaza, the political behavior of a post-withdrawal Palestinian government will have to be very carefully monitored."

Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, al-Qaida has ought sanctuaries in Iraq, Mali, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The report said the ideological affinity between Hamas and al-Qaida would convert the Gaza Strip into a base for Osama Bin Laden's movement.

In March 2003 Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaida held a meeting to discuss strategy. The report said that over the past year, Hamas has been promoting al-Qaida, particularly the teachings of Abdullah Azzam, regarded as Bin Laden's mentor.

Entitled, "Will a Gaza 'Hamas-stan' Become a Future al-Qaida Sanctuary?" the report cited al-Qaida's search for sanctuary in Africa and Asia as well as Hamas's affinity with the Bin Laden-led movement. Co-authored by researcher David Keyes, the report cited Hamas distribution of material in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that expressed support for the Islamic insurgency wars in Afghanistan, Balkans and Kashmir.

Over the past four years, al-Qaida and Hamas have maintained contact, the report said. Bin Laden was said to have sent emissaries to Hamas in September 2000 and January 2001 after the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian war.

In 2003, Israel arrested three Hamas militants after they had returned from an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. The report said Palestinians have also risen to senior positions in Bin Laden's network.

That same year, Jordanian security officials reported that two Hamas agents traveled to Afghanistan to recruit the remnants of al-Qaida. al-Qaida also recruited two British nationals for a Hamas suicide attack on a Tel Aviv pub in 2003.

The report envisioned Western efforts to stop Israel's military from re-entering the Gaza Strip after its planned withdrawal in September 2005.

Amidror and Keyes said Western powers, seeking to neutralize Israeli influence, would create a security vacuum in Gaza that al-Qaida could exploit.

"Clearly, a dangerous mix of conditions exists for the potential aid of al-Qaida to Hamas and vice versa," the report said. "Though the operational cooperation between the two groups may only be intermittent today, in the global fight against terror it is prudent to maintain a global outlook. As Israel prepares for its disengagement, a grave threat exists that Gaza will become an international terror base."

The report recommended an Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip after withdrawal. This would include Israeli control over air, land and sea access to the area.

"Yet the success of Israel in neutralizing the emergence of an al-Qaida sanctuary cannot be completely assured," the report said. "Israel will face enormous international pressure to ease its grip on the strategic envelope surrounding Gaza. The dangers of a semi-sovereign 'Hamas-stan' providing operational, logistical, financial, or ideological sanctuary to al-Qaida are too real and too deadly to limit any effective steps to totally eradicate both of these terror organizations."

The group stated Iran's national defense should be increased and should include "maintaining national solidarity behind the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei to safeguard Iran's national interests" and "launching aggressive-defensive attacks against enemy's most vital interests in case of being attacked."

The group also stated Iran should employ "assistance from the unseen world" as a defense tactic.

But it added it would not offer any details, noting that "although this tactic would cost the enemy severe unexpected losses beyond doubt, and bring about miraculous blessings for our nation, since it is classified as 'Top Secret' in our defense doctrine, we cannot offer any further details about it."

The group called for holy war based on Islam.

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