Inside the Middle East – Intelligence Perspectives Immediate Intelligence Bulletin Palestinian Campaign – The March of Return: Towards a Burst of Major Israeli – Palestinian Violence?   March 29, 2018   The Palestinians have announced the launching of a The March of Return campaign, consisting of a series of protests and demonstrations centered in the Gaza Strip, and also planned…

Click Here For PDF of this post – “What Is Militant Sunni Islam?”   What is Militant Sunni Islam?   Contemporary Sunni militant Islam is rooted in the two main representatives of political Islam – the Muslim Brotherhood Movement and the ultra-conservative Salafi ideology. Since its early days, the Muslim Brotherhood had – in addition to its educational, social and…

Click Here to Download a PDF of this Bulletin   Intelligence Bulletin Al Hazimi Ideology: Radicalization of Extremism   July 23, 2017 Information: Major Arab information platforms, including Elaph and Al Arabiya, have just recently introduced a person named Ahmad Bin Omar Al Hazimi, a Saudi Salafi-Jihadi preacher advocating what is described as “a more extreme and brutal version of…

What is Salafi Jihadi Ideology?   The word “Salaf” means the past of something, its origin, its roots, its primal source. The origins of Salafi thought are deep in the sands of the Arabian Peninsula. Salafi thinkers and theologians believe that the Islamic civilization will be cured of all ills, and thrive and flourish again once Muslims adopt and apply…

Inside the Middle East – Intelligence Perspectives Intelligence Bulletin     March 14, 2017   A Prediction Materialized: Iranian Proxy Vows to “Fight to liberate the Golan Heights”   Information: In my January 2017 article “A Growing Whirlpool of Violence: The Middle East Legacy of Barack Obama “ I made the following prediction regarding the growing direct and indirect Iranian…

July 1st, 2016 by Avi Melamed General Background: The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn, most widely known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Sunni Islamic group, established in the late 1970’s. The PIJ is a Palestinian organization inspired by Jihadi Islamist Militant ideology. The goal of Jihadi Islamist Militant ideology is to create,…

July 15, 2014 Muqawama, Money, Missiles By Avi Melamed The current round of violence between Israel and Hamas is caused by the simplest reason imaginable, yet very few are aware of it. MONEY. Let’s start with a clarification. Today, the real boss in the Gaza Strip, is a massively armed military force of about ten to fifteen thousand Palestinians known as the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades. Ezzedeen Al-Qassam is often presented as the military wing of Hamas – the rulers of the Gaza Strip. However, that definition should be revised to more accurately reflect the current reality. Today, the militia – the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, who rule the Gaza Strip – have a political wing, named Hamas. It is the Ezzedeen…

 ******* Intelligence Bulletin Information Date:    October 22, 2013 Event Date:     October 22, 2013 Information Item:    Are we facing an immediate outbreak of violence in the Gaza  Strip? Information Platform:    Varied Source:    Varied Source Reliability:    Unknown Spring:    Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Palestine (IJP) official platforms Spring Reliability:    Reliable Information Validity:    Valid Relevant Information:    A Palestinian militant named Muhammad Rabah A’si was killed today in a clash with the IDF. A’si was killed while hiding in a cave in the West Bank. Reportedly, A’si was the planner of an attack on an Israeli bus in the city of Tel Aviv (November 21, 2012). Following his killing, the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, formally announced that A’si was one of their members.…

June 6, 2013 by Avi Melamed As the war in Syria percolates into Lebanon and Iraq, turning into a massive Sunni-Shiite collision, it is worthwhile to take a close look at another factor in Lebanon – The Palestinians. Some half a million Palestinians (who are all Sunni) live in Lebanon. They live in large refugee camps scattered throughout most of Lebanon. The biggest one is Ain Al-Hilweh, located next to the city of Sidon, the biggest city in southern Lebanon, which is also predominately Sunni. Other large camps are located in the vicinity of Beirut as well as in the area surrounding Tripoli, the biggest city in northern Lebanon, which similar to Sidon, is also predominately Sunni. The scenario of…

November 29, 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense: Geopolitical Ramifications – Part 2 Hamas’ Cruel Dilemma In my previous article Operation Pillar of Defense: Geopolitical Ramifications – Part 1 , Rocket Attacks on Israel: Sirens in Israeli Cities Must Echo in the West I described the militant axis nurtured and operated by the Iranian regime known as “the axis of Resistance.”  I outlined the way Hamas has been dragged – in the latest round and in previous instances – by other Palestinian terror organizations in the Gaza Strip into escalating their attacks on Israeli targets.  I also gave an overview of the process of growing tensions between Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip and the ramifications of that process…

October 17, 2012 The Emirate of Qatar formally announced its intention to invest $254,000,000 in the Gaza Strip.  The money will be used to build a new hospital, new residential projects, new roads and new physical infrastructure.   The investment is expected to generate thousands of job opportunities for the people of Gaza who struggle with a 30% unemployment rate.  There were rumors that the Qatari Emir and/or his wife, Princess Moza, were supposed to have visited Gaza this week, but the trip was postponed.  This explains the fact that Gaza Streets were recently lined with huge billboards and posters of the Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani with word “shukran” (“thank you” in Arabic).  Rumors of the supposed visit…

October 14, 2012 by Avi Melamed According to reports in the Arab media, Hisham Ali Saidani AKA Abu al-Walid al-Maqdasi, the leader of the Jihadist Terror group called “Majlis Syurah Al Mujahidin Aknaf Baitul Maqdis” was killed tonight (October 13, 2012) during an Israeli Air Force interceptive operation in the Gaza Strip. “Majlis Syurah Al Mujahidin Aknaf Baitul Maqdis” is apparently an umbrella name of two Jihadist organizations “Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad”* and “Ansar al-Sunnah.”  These groups are inspired by Al-Qaida yet the nature and character of their connection with Al-Qaida is not clear. In recent years these groups have launched terror attacks against Israeli cities in southern Israel as well as against Israeli Defense Forces deployed along the Israel–Egypt and Israel-Gaza…

August 30, 2012 by Avi Melamed According to a one senior Egyptian analyst, the Rafah terror attack was planned over the course of three months by six  Jihadist and Takfir groups. One of the groups also involved, according to one senior Egyptian official, was a Palestinian terror group based in the Gaza Strip named Jeish Al Islam (Islam’s Army). The groups involved in the attack are not part of Al-Qaida.  However, they are inspired by its ideology.  Al-Qaida has announced the establishment of an Islamic Emirate in the Sinai Peninsula and as far back as December 20, 2011, Al-Qaida announced the presence of its military wing in the Sinai Peninsula, called Ansar Al Jihad. Some of the militants that perpetrated…

February 25, 2012 by Avi Melamed The Iranian nuclear military program and the possibility of a massive military collision in the Middle East are clearly occupying the world’s attention. These concerns are not groundless.  However, is military confrontation inevitable? In this article, I would like to bring your attention to the fact that at this specific moment, due to the…