Salafi jihadist insurgency in the Gaza Strip

The Salafi jihadist insurgency in the Gaza Strip is a low-level conflict that has primarily involved Hamas and various Gazan Salafi jihadist militant groups that seek to challenge its governance of the territory.

Gazan Salafi jihadists first became active in the early 2000s. The insurgency first escalated during the late 2000s and early 2010s with events such as the 2009 Battle of Rafah and the 2011 kidnapping and murder of Vittorio Arrigoni. A truce between the two sides was signed in 2013. However, the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in the mid-2010s emboldened Gazan Salafi jihadists, leading to a resumption of direct clashes between Hamas and IS-affiliated forces in 2015.

Salafi jihadist groups operating in the Gaza Strip have typically engaged in armed clashes with Hamas forces and attacked various civilian targets, as well as launched attacks against Israel. The conflict is rooted in ideological differences, with Salafi jihadist groups opposing Hamas' Palestinian nationalism in favor of a transnational jihadism and full implementation of Sharia law. Many of these groups have aligned themselves with Al-Qaeda and/or IS, both which fall as well into the Salafi jihadist category. Only one Salafi jihadist group, Jaysh al-Ummah, has historically refrained from participating in the fighting against Hamas.