Hamas nabs two Islamic Jihad men preparing to fire mortars at Israel

Two militants preparing to fire mortars into Israel were detained Saturday by interior security officials of the Islamic Hamas movement, reported a group to which the militants claim membership.

The statement, from the Saraya al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, announced the arrest of their members Saturday, reporting that the two men had been arrested as they engaged an Israel Defense Forces unit along the border of Israel and the eastern Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which has held de facto control of the Gaza Strip since June 2007, has stopped rocket attacks on Israel, in an unofficial, unannounced and fragile ceasefire with Israel that was reached January 18 at the end of the last Israeli military offensive into Gaza.

I wonder if this had anything to do with that:

Hard time for Islamic Jihad: Budget cut in Syria means terror group can’t meet payroll

GAZA CITY — The Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad is down on its luck due to a financial crisis.

Palestinian sources said Jihad has failed to acquire most of its budget from headquarters in Syria. The sources said this has resulted in Jihad’s failure to pay operatives and purchase weapons for attacks on Israel.

“Only aid from Iran continues to come in, and that too is only for bereaved families and charities,” Islamic Jihad deputy secretary-general Ziad Al Nahla said.

Al Nahla said Israel and the Palestinian Authority have confiscated millions of dollars in donations from Arab and Muslim states. In an interview to the Saudi-based daily A-Sharq Al Awsat, Al Nahla said the funds had been transferred to Palestinian and Jordanian banks in the West Bank.

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The funding shortage has not paralyzed Jihad activities in the Gaza Strip. But the sources said Jihad has been forced to curtail missile and rocket strikes on Israel from the Gaza Strip amid the decline in funding.

“We can still guarantee minimum requirements,” Al Nahla said. “The money reaches the Gaza Strip via the tunnels, just like the weapons.”

Iran was said to be the largest donor of Jihad, established in 1987. Several Gulf Cooperation Council states, particularly Qatar, were said to have sent funds to Jihad as well.

The sources said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has proposed a joint command of Hamas and Jihad. They said IRGC envisioned Jihad establishing units in Hamas’s military in the Gaza Strip in an effort to enhance the combat ability of Iran’s proxies.

Jihad leaders have been divided over the IRGC proposal. Critics said Jihad would be eliminated in any merger with Hamas.