Israel Contends with Gaza's 2 Main Terror Groups Having Similar Goals, Differing Agendas

Last weekend, Israel concluded a cease-fire agreement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad after 5 days of rocket fire against Israeli civilians and devastating surgical strikes by Israel against the group's leadership. Islamic Jihad is one of two major terror entities operating within Gaza, along with Hamas. The two share a common hatred of Israel, although Hamas and Islamic Jihad also have very different agendas. Hamas formed in 1987 and has held political control over the Gaza Strip since it seized power in a violent coup from Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party in 2007. Islamic Jihad has had a presence there for decades. Both groups fire rockets at Israel and want the Jewish state replaced by an Islamic Palestinian state, yet a major difference exists between the two.