‘1,000 killed from friendly fire is the price of war,’ agree Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials

The IDF spokesman in Arabic on Wednesday revealed a document featuring minutes from an August 2022 meeting between Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials in Gaza, held following Operation Breaking Dawn, which targeted the Iran-loyalist PIJ in Gaza.

The Hamas official was identified as Ahmed and the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s military department was Akram al-Ajouri.

During the meeting, a controversy erupted over the failed rocket launches by the Islamic Jihad that killed Gazan civilians. In the context of the meeting, Ajouri criticized the accusations of Hamas and was quoted as saying: “Even if a thousand are killed by friendly fire, this is the price of war.”

During the exchange Ajouri criticizes Hamas for their investment in ‘defensive Jihad’ at the expense of ‘offensive Jihad,’ and denounced what he deemed Hamas’s “embarrassment of PIJ with the Egyptians,” claiming that Hamas blames the PIJ for every rocket fired upon its launch even without evidence.

Ajouri also accused Hamas of taking part in a media campaign against the PIJ, especially in the context of the rocket misfires. To this the Hamas representative responded: “we are not part of a campaign against you – but it is the population of Gaza, where there are two million Facebook accounts, and everyone pretends to be an expert. Your rockets fell on the homes of the people in broad daylight, and has happened again and again, so the people were mad at you. You must understand that we do not control the popular view in Gaza.”

Ahmed said that 1,000 killed by friendly fire is understandable if it is a result of unplanned mishaps, yet the problem of PIJ’s rockets did not start today and Gazans were killed by them in 2014, 2019 and 2021, and also in the 2022 round. He added that Hamas contacted PIJ on this issue already in 2019, to which Ajouri responded “By Allah, your words are true. We take our designs from the [Iranian Revolutionary] Guards, and we try to apply them in Gaza, but there are problems with the application which are being taken care of.”

The document confirms Hamas’s and Islamic Jihad’s view of the residents of Gaza and their exploitation of them, as the two movements realize the danger these rockets pose to the lives of the residents and consider them a “war tax” directly or indirectly.

Hamas and PIJ – a history of frictions

The document confirms Hamas’s and Islamic Jihad’s view of the residents of Gaza and their exploitation of them, as the two movements realize the danger these rockets pose to the lives of the residents and consider them a “war tax” directly or indirectly.

“This is also evident during the current war, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad persist in launching rockets from areas populated by civilians and even from humanitarian areas, which exposes the people of the Gaza Strip to danger,” added the IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Avichai Adraee.

The document exposes the friction between Hamas and the PIJ, like another one revealed in March and published by The Jerusalem Post (LINK), in which the Al-Qassam Brigades’ military intelligence division exposed a close surveillance of Hamas against their kin at the PIJ, revealing concerns about PIJ’s potential criticisms of Hamas or claims of credit for “resistance operations.”

The document, dating back to December 2022 and found amid IDF operations in Gaza, outlined Hamas’s dissatisfaction with PIJ’s media portrayal, especially regarding self-damaging rocket launches during Operation Breaking Dawn in August 2022. The document highlighted PIJ’s propaganda efforts, including a TV series, a documentary on its drone capabilities, and its presence on Al Jazeera.

Hamas then proposed four key recommendations to counter PIJ’s media narrative, such as ensuring that PIJ refrains from criticizing Hamas, preventing exaggerated portrayals of PIJ’s missile strength, fostering unity within Gaza’s resistance groups, and influencing media content to emphasize joint operations between Hamas and PIJ.

Hamas and PIJ are largely recognized for their influence in the Gaza Strip, though both have significant presence in the West Bank. Both factions benefit from financial and ideological backing from Iran and its proxies.

While Hamas is grounded in the ideology of “political Islam,” drawing its principles from its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, PIJ’s founders were inspired by the Iranian Khomeini revolution, aligning them more closely with the Islamic Republic and its so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Iran, Hezbollah, the Syrian regime, the Houthi movement, and other militias across the region.

A major distinction between the two is that Hamas is more deeply woven into the fabric of Palestinian society, commanding broader popular support and functioning as a quasi-government, managing infrastructure, education, and public services. PIJ operates more freely, with less attachment to local communities. Recently, both groups have sought to portray a semblance of unity to external audiences, occasionally collaborating on media content, such as videos depicting joint military operations amid the ongoing conflict.