Jamaa Islamiya head says conflict has strengthened cooperation with Hezbollah

BEIRUT — The secretary-general of the Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese political party with links to the Muslim Brotherhood and close to Hamas, Sheikh Mohammed Takkoush said on Tuesday, in an interview with the Associated Press, that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has "helped strengthen cooperation" between the latter and his group.

Isreal and Hezbollah have been engaged in daily skirmishes since Oct. 8, a day after the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. The Jamaa Islamiya is a Sunni Lebanese group that decided to fight alongside Hezbollah against Israel since early October. On Wednesday, seven young medical volunteers were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the southern Lebanese town of Hebbarieh (Hasbaya) that targeted an emergency and relief center that belongs to a rescue organization allegedly affiliated with Jamaa Islamiya.

In an interview with the Associated Press held at the Jamaa Islamiya's headquarters in Beirut on Tuesday, Takkoush said that his group decided to join the fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border because of Israel’s "crushing offensive on the Gaza Strip and its strikes against Lebanese villages killing civilians, including journalists, since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct.7."

"We decided to join [the battle] as a national, religious and moral duty. We did that to defend our land and villages," Takkoush told The Associated Press. "We also did so in support of our brothers in Gaza," where he said Israel was committing an "open massacre."

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Normally rather discreet, Jamaa Islamiya seems to have become more active since the start of hostilities in South Lebanon on Oct. 8. This Lebanese Sunni party linked to the Muslim Brotherhood has so far claimed responsibility for five strikes against Israel. 

Takkoush told the Associated Press he believes Israel has ambitions to take over more territory "not only in Palestine but in Lebanon too."

According to the Associated Press, "elections within the Jamaa Islamiya in 2022 brought its leadership closer to Hamas." 

During the interview, Takkoush added that his group "makes its own decisions in the field but coordinates closely with Hezbollah, and with the Lebanese branch of the Palestinian militant group Hamas."

"Part of [the attacks against Israeli forces] were in coordination with Hamas, which coordinates with Hezbollah," he said adding that direct cooperation with Hezbollah "is on the rise and this is being reflected in the field."

The Jamaa Islamiya has lost five members since Oct. 8, Takkoush said. Three of them were killed earlier this month.

The other two were killed in the Israeli strike that assassinated top Hamas official Saleh Arouri in the Southern suburbs of Beirut on Jan. 2.

In the current conflict, "coordinating and cooperating with a movement like Hamas, the most honorable liberation movement, is an honor," Takkoush said.

Commenting on the group’s relations with Hezbollah, Takkoush said "it had gone through ups and downs." They had differences regarding the conflicts in Syria and Yemen but put them aside "to resist the Israeli occupation of parts of our Lebanese territories," he said.

"Our relations with Hezbollah are good and growing and it is being strengthened as we go through war," Takkoush said.

Takkoush added that all the weapons they use "are from their own arsenal." "We did not get even a bullet from any side," he said.

Asked whether the Jamaa Islamiya is trying to "fill the gap in Lebanon’s Sunni political leadership left behind by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri who quit politics two years ago," Takkoush said that Hariri "still has a base of support and popularity, but his group was not in the habit of filling anyone’s absence."

"We introduce ourselves as partners in building generations and [state] institutions but we do not replace anyone," he said.