Imam Considers Moving Missiles To Make Room For Worshipers

Gaza City, July 25 – In advance of prayer on the most well-attended day of the Muslim week, Friday, Imam Ali Al-Jabri of the Nebi Shufri Mosque in downtown Gaza City faces a dilemma: where to fit the worshipers, whose prayer space is now occupied by several dozen rockets of various types.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants visited Al-Jabri earlier this week to arrange the storage of the missiles, which they promised would be out by yesterday. However, Israeli forces destroyed the other end of the tunnel through which the missiles were brought in, making removal of the weapons more difficult and presenting the Imam with a dilemma.

“I could ask people to pray outside, but that would make them more vulnerable to other Hamas rockets and mortars that fall sho- I mean, to Zionist airstrikes,” he explained. “It might help the Resistance public relations effort and gain more sympathy internationally, but that’s not really my department. I’m supposed to run a mosque.” The missiles were quickly brought to the mosque after being discovered in a UN-run school and moved.

Al-Jabri said Hamas might be able to transport the missiles out a few at a time, except perhaps the larger, long-range  ones, in ambulances, but logistical concerns make that an unlikely solution. “Right now the ambulances are needed elsewhere, to ferry fighters from one place to another safely.”

Hamas initially sought another local venue to store the suddenly homeless rockets, but those spaces were already full. A playground was already in use as a launch site, and a health clinic had no more room. A Hamas fighter who gave his name as Abu Kaka said he and his squad had hoped to use the mosque as a launch site as well, and that would clear some space, but the structure of the building was not conducive to the needs of the rockets they wished to fire – the ones that could reach into the Tel Aviv area, which require more space and sturdier construction.

Al-Jabri’s pleas to move the rockets in time for worship early Friday morning have so far gone unheeded. However, he consoles himself with the prospect of light attendance, which is more likely, given the dangers of remaining outside for long. He knows the risk of an Israeli strike on the mosque if knowledge of the rockets’ presence reaches the IDF, but is willing to assume it. As an extra precaution, he spends most of his time down the street at home, and has an assistant open and close the facility.

As for whether it was right to put other people at risk in such a fashion, Al-Jabri said he did not understand the question. “How else are you supposed to accomplish things if not by making other people suffer?” he asked.