Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) and its Ties to Hamas

Speaker: Dr. Zana Gul (University of Stirling)

Date: 7 December 2023

Speaker Session Summary

Wilayat Sinai (WS), formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), is an Egyptian-based extremist group that is active in the Sinai Peninsula. The group seeks to influence the region’s politics and establish a state of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Like ISIL, WS is a Salafi Islamic organization. It operates in the portion of the Sinai region closest to Gaza, giving and receiving economic, financial, and military support to Palestinian Salafists. Dr. Gul stated that, at times, Hamas, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, sent soldiers to WS for training and medical treatment. Guns, supplies, and food are moved from Sinai into Gaza through an intricate network of tunnels that have proliferated since WS became a strong actor in the region, following the power vacuum left after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Initially numbering several dozen, these tunnels have since grown to around 500.

Wilayat Sinai has experienced conflicts and limited cooperation with Hamas throughout its history. The backgrounds of Hamas and WS are rooted in their connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi Islam respectfully. Both are fundamentalist Islamic movements; however, their doctrine and desired restructuring of the Islamic world differ, leading to occasional conflicts. In recent years, the two groups have been in conflict with each other more than they have cooperated. Hamas has even begun working with Egypt’s government to shut down tunnels from Sinai to Gaza, aiming to limit coordination and cooperation between Salafi Muslims in Gaza and WS. Bedouin tribes inhabiting Sinai have been victims of much of the instability and violence caused by WS, causing them to declare war on the group. Dr. Gul underscored WS’s activity by pointing out that it has claimed responsibility for more than a third of the terrorist attacks that occurred between 2011 and 2017. Despite its activity level, Dr. Gul commented that WS is probably not capable of launching a full-scale military operation into Gaza.

Speaker Session Recording

Briefing Materials

Biography: Dr. Zana Gul is a lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling, Scotland, the UK. Dr. Gul taught at the University of Sheffield and Edge Hill University, the UK. Dr Gul’s peer-reviewed academic publications include the book “The making of foreign policy in Iraq: Political factions and ruling elites” London: I.B. Tauris (an imprint of Bloomsbury) (2021), book chapters and peer-reviewed articles with academic journals such as Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (Routledge: Taylor and Francis), Small Wars and Insurgencies (Routledge: Taylor and Francis) and Asian Affairs (Routledge: Taylor and Francis). Dr. Gul published dozens of articles and reports on the politics, IR, development and security of the Middle East with research institutes, think tanks and newspapers such as CTC Sentinel, Open Democracy, E-International Relations, National Security Innovations, the Jamestown Foundation, and The National. Dr. Gul presented papers at conferences organized by the Political Studies Association, the American Political Science Association, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies and the British International Studies Association. Dr. Gul also provided written evidence to the UK parliament and offered consultancy focusing on security in the Middle East, including Iraq and Syria.